


Hair Puller

by SkinnyBoi0321



Category: Noah Centineo - Fandom, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Characters of Noah Centineo, Family Drama, Family Feels, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-04-08 01:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19096726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkinnyBoi0321/pseuds/SkinnyBoi0321
Summary: An AU where Peter Kavinsky goes to UCLA instead of UVA as seen in "Always and Forever, Lara Jean." You will see him interact with an original character, and both will discover many things along the way as they try to survive this new environment and each other....As of January 13, 2020, Chapter 7 is the last chapter which skips time from Chapter 6 in September to Chapter 7 in December. Just wanted to give the finish. Sorry to disappoint you. ^insert shoulder shrug and puppy eyes





	1. New Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you looking for Noah content, you will see that but not yet. This chapter is meant to introduce the main female [original] character(s) before her interactions with the campus with some familiar faces. Hope you guys enjoy!

It has just turned into September, and California weather felt much calmer and definitely not as humid compared to Hawaii around this time. Despite the slightly cloudy conditions, nothing could make the beaming smile fade from the ecstatic Leilani as she practically leaps out of the mini-van. She breathes in the cool air as she stands on the balls of her feet and grips Noe the dolphin Pillow Pet in one arm & one suitcase in the other; meanwhile, Dad was turning off the engine & starting to open the trunk while Mom mirrored Leilani's movements of taking in the environment.

Mom starts a conversation, “Well, the atmosphere feels different now than from the campus tour during the spring, isn’t it?”

Leilani simply nods, her smile never leaving her face; suddenly, she releases her grip from the suitcase and starts nervously twirling the end of a few hairs with her index finger.

The conversation is stopped as Dad suddenly shouts, “Kekoa! Terror Twins! Wake up! We’re here; could you help out, please?” This triggers three bodies to jerk awake in the car: Kekoa, Leilani’s 17-year-old yet 5’11” brother, and Yuri & Ren, 7-years-old girls with the stereotypical chin-length Asian straight black hair but also including bangs. They hurriedly yet groggily exit the car and take whatever Dad hands them. Mom silently pats Leilani on the shoulder before walking towards her husband to help.

Leilani takes in another deep breath, then excitedly walks forward with her suitcase & Noe at hand before she’s stopped by a sudden exclamation by Yuri, “Leilani, wait up!”

She realizes that she’s going towards the dorms without her family, so she turns around, “My bad. I’m just really excited to get to the dorm!”

Ren snarks as she approaches Leilani with a light box at hand, “You don’t even start for a few days. What’s the rush?”

Leilani remarks back, “When you’re older and you start college, you’ll understand.” Both of them laugh as the rest of the family finally catches up with all of the materials needed for Leilani’s new dorm. They all start walking at a normal pace, but Kekoa is struggling to walk with carrying two stacked boxes that obstruct his view; Leilani loosens her grip on Noe the Dolphin in order to pull at Kekoa’s lean right bicep & guide his walking.

Kekoa mentions, “Thanks.”

Leilani makes her own remark, “Oh, don’t thank me. I would have easily let you be and laughed if you fell, but you’re holding valuables so I’d rather have you not land on them.”

Kekoa sticks his tongue out, “Isn’t it just clothes in these boxes? Nothing is going to break if I do fall.”

Another remark: “Except your dignity.” This time, Kekoa somehow balances himself on one leg in order to kick Leilani’s left hip, pushing her into a grassy area almost spectacularly. The parents suddenly turn at the very moment of her shrieking, but Leilani and the rest of the children simply laugh out loud to the point that surrounding people are staring. This family doesn’t mind the looks; they’ve gotten many types of looks over the years.

Anyways, Leilani easily stands up by herself and they quickly proceed to her designated dorm building. Once they enter the tall structure that’s filled with both males & females, Dad leans closer to Leilani and whispers, “Is this your building? I thought you said you’re living in a non-co-ed area.”

Leilani educates him, “I said that my floor isn’t co-ed, but the status of co-ed or not changes by the levels. I never said the building wasn’t co-ed.” Leilani notices his sudden look of worry, which is natural for a father at the sight of his daughter in a new environment let alone college, so she tries to assure him, “Don’t worry, Dad; I’m not looking for a relationship or anything of the sort right now, especially after the whole Carter situation.”

Mom chimes in, “Ugh, don’t mention that boy. It was very inconsiderate of him to break up with you during your graduation party.”

Kekoa quickly notices his sister’s change in mood at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, so he gently nudges her with his elbow as he tries to help the conversation, “Hey, he’s in your past. Now, just remind yourself that you’re in freakin' UCLA!”

A smile returns to Leilani’s face, then her attention turns downwards towards Yuri as she pouts, “He was awful nice, though.”

Leilani pets the top of her younger sister’s head as she answers in a more hushed tone, “Yeah, he was.” She brings her volume up once again in a cheery tone, “But Kekoa is right; he is in my past and I’m ready to start college already!” All of them exclaim in familial unison while the elevator opens to expose a stampede of other girls running around the halls in order to get themselves situated.

As they walking, Mom, Dad, & the twins notice Leilani slowing down since she’s being stopped by girls left & right trying to introduce themselves to her in a friendly manner with complimenting her overall look or hair; not wanting to slow down anymore, the four of them motion that they’re moving ahead to the room since they already know the dorm number. Meanwhile, Leilani catches out of the corner of her eye that girls are looking at Kekoa just as much as they’re looking at her, but they’re moreso gazing at him with ... certain intentions. As they walking, Leilani tells off the passing girls, “He’s a minor, ladies. Move on.” Kekoa straightens his posture at the statement & his face suddenly bursts into a pink tint while the girls sigh in disappointment and indeed move on; granted, Kekoa is a little introverted so he’s isn’t a sexually-obsessed jock personality-wise, but he could be easily mistaken for a jock because of his admittedly handsome physique and his soft expressions on an otherwise sharp face.

Once the girls pass, Kekoa asks, “Why you gotta do me like that?” Leilani simply shrugs in silence, then both eventually just laugh it off when they arrive at the now open dorm room. It was gorgeous despite not being decorated yet: medium sized room with enough room to move but no kitchen, two full-sized beds on the opposing walls and two big desks leaning against the third wall with a singular large window, sunlight hitting the room not too powerfully because of the slight cloudiness yet just perfectly enough to get light into the room just right. Immediately, the children start opening the boxes & unpacking while the parents start placing removable wall-grip-hooks on the wall for some frame that Leilani brought for quote-unquote personality.

After a few minutes when all the boxes were at least opened, a Latina-Caucasian girl comes bursting through the entryway and eventually locks her hazel eyes with Leilani’s deep brown eyes as she shouts, “Oh my gosh, hi! You must be Leilani Evans!”

Leilani suddenly remembers the list held by some dorm director saying what level, room, & roommate she had; then, Leilani bursts to match this new girl’s energy, “Oh hi! Alba Wilson, right?”

“Yes!” Alba then looks around Leilani’s side of the room to comment, “Wow, you work really fast, Leilani. And by the way, the cherry blossom paintings are a nice touch.”

“Thanks. I did them myself.”

“No way! That makes them even more awesome. I’m an Art major, which isn’t really new in LA, but I think I could get an edge in classes with you as an artistic partner.”

“Sure. I would love to collaborate with you. I’m actually a Sociology major, but I’m minoring in Dance so I also have that artistic touch.”

“That’s so great because I was almost discouraged in my major just within minutes of stepping on the campus, seeing so many other talented people walking around with works already, but I’m glad that we met.” Alba refocuses her attention on the surroundings to find five other people in the room. She then infers still in her excited tone, “Oh, is this the fam?”

Not wanting to be in the room full of college talk anymore, Yuri & Ren pull at their parents’ clothes to signal their intent; catching on, Mom approaches Leilani, “Hey honey, we have our flight back today, so we have to get ready. Have fun, call everyday, and remember we love you.” Leilani fully turns her body to her mother and immediately feels pressure coming in the back of her eyes, so she swiftly buries her face in Mom’s shoulder before she can embarrass herself in front of her new friend.

Alba, as if instantly understanding, calls out, “Hey, Leilani, I’ll be waiting outside; take all the time you people need. I need to get more stuff from the car.” She warmly smiles to everyone, then leaves the room with her stuff sitting on her bed.

Mom releases the hug from her daughter to allow Dad to walk in for his own hug. As he grips Leilani in a warm embrace, “Echoing your mother: have fun but not too much fun, communicate as often as you can & need, and remember that we’re with you with all of the love you ever want waiting in Hawaii.” As he releases his own hug, Yuri & Ren immediately start bawling as they run to Leilani’s waist to hug; they don’t say any coherent words, but they don’t need to as Leilani carefully embraces her little sisters without words. They let go of their embrace, then everyone looks at Kekoa who is rubbing his left elbow in anticipation. Dad finally breaks the silence, “We’ll give you two time; Kekoa, we’ll be in the car.” He then nods nicely for everyone but Leilani & Kekoa to leave.

Leilani finally feels tears falling down her face, so she flings her arms up and proceeds to put her hair in a simple ponytail. At the sight of his sister like this, Kekoa finally utters, “That has always been a good look for you, Mama.”

Taken aback a little, Leilani comments with a small voice-crack, “You haven’t called me that in years; I’ve missed that.”

“Haven’t had to use it ever since Hikaru and Ben took us in when you were 10 and I was 9.” He’s talking about Mom and Dad.

“Those were hard times. But look at us now, Kekoa.” She jumps into an embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck although she’s only 5’5” so she actually has to jump a bit. She then remarks, “Soldier on for me, okay?”

Kekoa grips at her torso tighter as he breaks down into tears himself, and laughs at Leilani’s inspiration based on the meaning behind his name; he then says, “And blossom into the beautiful flower I already know you are.” They both laugh & cry for a whole minute, and struggle to even let go until Leilani checks the time on her phone. She then tells, “Kekoa, it’s already 9; you guys need to go soon.” Kekoa keeps his head drooped slightly while trying to push a smile behind the tears; Leilani kisses his cheek then says one final thing: “Let the sea carry your tears, and may God turn them into sustenance for others.” Kekoa laughs, grips both of Leilani’s hands one last time, and releases them before he walks out of the room without breaking eye contact until the very last second.

After a few seconds, Alba finally walks in, “Wow, that was powerful.”

Leilani wipes the tears from her face and beams a smile, “Hey, let me help you with that.” She instantly rushes to Alba who is carrying a couple of boxes & a canvas inbetween her right armpit.

Alba mouths, “Thanks, love.” After looking around to see if she had everything in front of her, Alba turns to Leilani again and comments, “You have a beautiful family.”

At the mention of family, Leilani notices no one accompanying Alba. Carefully choosing her words, Leilani asks, “If you don’t mind me asking, where is your family?”

Alba softens her face yet still with a smile, “The only thing my parents really offer me is money. They couldn’t make it since they’re working, that part I understand, but they’re not really the sentimental types in general. It’s complicated; besides, a Caucasian father and Mexican mother doesn’t come with the best childhood if you’re looking for that kinda type.”

Leilani mouths off, “Yeah, I know complicated.”

Alba notices a drop in volume, “What is so complicated about what you guys have?”

Not taking a hesitant second, Leilani honestly flows, “I know we just met, but I really feel we can be friends so might as well be honest: Kekoa is the only one connected to me by blood; Ben & Noriko are adoptive parents as you saw with us two being Hawaiian while Ben is white & Noriko is Japanese, they picked the two of us when I was 10 & he was 9 but it was after a year or so of living on the streets; and Yuri & Ren were born later.”

Alba further softens into a face of sympathy as she springs into a hug, “I’m so sorry, love.”

Leilani immediately reciprocates the hug with a smile while her chin is on Alba’s shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry, Alba. Like what my family said earlier about another subject for another time, it was in my past and now my life is much better because of the struggles & blessings in it.”

Alba releases the hug but still grips Leilani’s wrists as she states, “Oh God, girl, don’t make me cry! I’m an easy crier, by the way, but I hope I can be a great listener to you if you need me.”

Leilani echoes, “And I hope I can be a great listener & friend to you, Alba. Also, ditto on the easy crier part.” Both of them let go of each other and wipe away the remnant tears, then Leilani changes the conversation, “So, I’m done with unpacking but not sorting yet, but I can help you out since I got a head start. Besides, I took care of Kekoa for most of my life so I know how to be organized.”

Alba laughs out loud, “Haha! Uh, yes, I would love your help.” To signify her readiness, Alba mirrors Leilani by putting her hair in a ponytail. Eventually, they start getting to work on Alba’s side of the room.


	2. First Impressions

“Amiga, explain to me why you’re dragging me around campus at 7 in the morning? You told me our classes don’t start ‘til 9-something and it’s practically a five-minute-walk from the room to the classes.”

As Alba complains groggily, Leilani practically explodes, “One, it’s 7:30 right now. Two, both of our first classes are at 9:35. Three, I usually wake up at 4 in the morning back in Hawaii, and I guess I forgot to change my alarms. And four, how are you not excited?! It’s the first day of classes and the campus will bound to be crowded & buzzing like Matsumoto.”

“Mat-whatta?”

“Matsumoto’s a shaved ice shop in Oahu. It used to be quaint, but now it’s a whole shopping center in that area. Maybe I’ll take you there one day.”

“Only if I get you to try Mexican ice cream bars first.”

“What are those like?”

“Amazing; I won’t go into more details until I see you try them yourself.” After a nice yawn, Alba continues, “Why must you torture me with food talk?”

“Stop grumbling; our first stop is the cafe anyways.”

The two of them enter the campus Starbucks closest to their dorm to find some people still in their pajamas but already just as lively as Leilani. As they get in the surprisingly long line, Alba’s eyes are more awake and notice very defined curls in Leilani’s hair; curious, Alba starts playing with the black-dirty-blonde ombre hair, scaring Leilani a bit. She then asks, “Is your hair always this curly in the morning?”

Leilani chuckles as she turns her head, “Nope. My hair is naturally straight, but I wanted to clean the ends up a bit for today. Besides, 4 AM, remember?”

Alba mouths off, “You do know that it’s just syllabus day, right?”

“Actually, it’s also club rush day in the afternoon, and first impressions count.”

“Well, you’re lucky you’re a good friend, otherwise I would have made an impression of my foot on your ass for waking me up this early.” Both laugh out loud, even with Alba's grogginess still slightly apparent.

Once they’re next in line, Leilani naturally looks down at her wallet as she talks, “One guava & cream cheese danish and a grande Jade Citrus Mint Green Tea, please.”

The cashier smiles in nervousness as Leilani finally looks up from her wallet, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have that here, miss.”

She stares at him in confusion, but then remembers where she is. “Oh God, sorry! I’m from Hawaii so that’s my usual order.”

The cashier sincerely wards off the apology, and the two girls eventually order their food & drinks. After a few minutes, their order is ready for pickup and they grab the items off of the counter. As the two converse, Leilani doesn’t notice another student moving out of his chair which bumps her ankle and tips her off-balance. She exclaims, “Okay!” as she falls, trying to turn her body 180 degrees so she lands on the cold floor with her back instead of her face.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” is what she hears as she’s falling; the sensation she feels next is not cold & hard, but actually very warm. She finally opens her eyes to see a guy holding onto her for dear life in a tango dip position while Alba stands in shock & Leilani’s Starbuck order is all over the floor. As Leilani & this mystery guy try to catch their breath, he simply yet coolly states, “Hi.”

In a higher pitch than his, Leilani echos, “Hi,” as he suddenly swings her upright, not even noticing the tone in his voice.

He converts from chill to concerned, “Are you okay?”

She answers, “Yeah, thank you for the save.” After a few breaths and a fixing of some hairs that flew to the front of her face, Leilani brings up, “Oh, your shirt has a little tea on it.”

The guy looks down at his shirt, “Huh, what a great day to wear a white cut-up tank-top, am I right?” Both of them start chuckling at the joke, Leilani impressed with this guy’s sense of humor. The guy then steps closer to her, looking her right in the eyes, “Maybe to make it up to me, I would get to know your name?”

Impressed by his confidence, she chuckles a bit then brings up her right hand for a handshake, “I’m Lei--”

Her introduction is interrupted by a few more slightly-buff guys taking the guy’s hand and dragging him away. One of them yells, “Dude, we gotta go!” The mystery guy grabs at his backpack & gym bag that has a lacrosse stick sticking out of the bag then looks back at Leilani almost pleadingly, knowing he didn’t get her full name.

Leilani huffs in disappointment, but her spirits are lifted when Alba sneaks up beside her, “Well, that was awakening.” Both of them laugh, then walk to the cashier for a replacement order for Leilani.

***

Morning becomes afternoon rather slowly; Alba was right in saying it was just a syllabus day, and Leilani’s energy was a little drained from the lack of productivity. To make matters worse, she already has homework for the three classes she had today due by the next session on Wednesday; still, she feels lucky that she scheduled those classes to be so consecutive of each other with 10 minute breaks in between each, that way she has time to do such homework or whatever she wants to do for the rest of the day. They’re all hour-&-a-half classes, though, so she's still feeling the effects and is especially hungry now.

Leilani & Alba have some classes together coincidentally, but Alba isn’t available at this time since she decided to take a lunch break after a class then go to another class right after Leilani finishes her last Monday/Wednesday class. Therefore, Leilani walks into the cafeteria at 2:10ish a little hangry and sees it very full of hustle & bustle; with so much movement, she almost doesn’t recognize the lines for the many different options of restaurants & cafes.

After seeing a certain sign she recognizes, Leilani thinks out loud, “Hmm, maybe Subway today then check out the library.” Holding her stomach as an internal conversation to it saying _Shut up please_ , she still walks confidently and quickly to the Subway line; along the way, some people start noticing her: curls in her ombre hair still bouncing, light-washed high-waisted denim-shorts, neon pink T-shirt top tucked into the front of her shorts & flying in the back, black high-top Chuck Taylors, and a beaming smile.

Many looks & compliments from people and an order at Subway later, she proceeds to walk to the four-floored building that was the UCLA library or the Powell building. Walking itself was an adventure because she saw some people setting up the booths for Club Rush, others talking incessantly amongst each other, and even some singing to other people; this is what attracted Leilani most to UCLA, this environment of expression and excitement.

Eventually arriving at the library, she looks at the layout of the building to see which one allows food & studying. Finding that on the picture, Leilani takes the stairs to such a floor without hesitation; once arriving, she notices a sparse amount people around, sitting at wooden tables or sitting on the floor in between bookshelves. She then walks through the hallway to find a more open space towards the middle of the floor with more tables; glancing at all of the table options, she notices a familiar face buried into a textbook and eating contently at an acai bowl.

Leilani brings up a big smile and walks towards her mystery guy, although he’s not wearing his white tank top with the tea stain; maybe he just changed out earlier. She stays standing when she starts a conversation, “Hey there, stranger.”

The guy is genuinely surprised to see her, but it’s a more confused than excited reaction than she was expecting; still, he was being polite by showing a small smile to which her heart melted at the sight of it. She’s even more surprised at what he says next, “You say ‘stranger’, but by that tone it sounds like you know me. Have we met before?”

Leilani stammers, “Yeah, we met this morning at the Starbucks close to the dorms. I bumped into a chair and almost fell but you caught me, but I did spill some tea on your white workout shirt.”

The guy squints his eyes as if trying to remember, but he answers sincerely, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember going to a Starbucks this morning. Maybe it was the wrong face; sorry to disappoint you.”

Leilani motions her eyes towards the chair next to him as if asking to sit down, to which he obliges; she then continues the conversation, “Huh, I’m sorry, but I never thought I could mistake that handsome face of yours.” She almost immediately covers her face as it floods pink in embarrassment at the realization of what she just said.

The boy, however, laughs at a library-acceptable volume and compliments, “And I’d think I would remember such a confident girl with a great look.” This causes him to also hide behind his hands in embarrassment while she drops her hands & openly shows her blushing.

Leilani then continues the conversation, “Well, whoever the other guy was this morning, he couldn’t even get my full first name since he was dragged away by his friends.” She then presents her right hand to gesture for a handshake, “Hi, I’m Leilani.”

The boy attempts to bring up his hand to reciprocate the shake, but that hand is quickly grabbed by someone running to him and stating almost breathlessly yet too loud to be in a library, “Hey man, we have to get to football practice!”

The guy is pulled by his presented hand out of the seat, forgetting his backpack & gear. The guy pleads with his friend to wait a few seconds, then notices Leilani pouting to herself at the fact that she attempted to introduce herself today to two guys who look very similarly only for both to be pulled away without as much as getting their names [although he doesn’t know that fact]. The boy taps at her shoulder, jolting her to stand up as he crouches down for his stuff. Neither of them break eye-contact from each other, then the boy presents his hand for a handshake as he chuckles, “Hi, I’m Jamey.”

This brings her spirits and her smile back, then she brings her hand up again in order to shake his hand. Jamey smiles warmly, almost like with puppy eyes, at Leilani as he slowly releases the handshake & backs up towards his friend but ends the conversation with, “Nice to meet you, Leilani. And I hope you find your mystery man so we can all be friends.” Leilani simply waves to her new friend as he’s jerked powerfully away from her by his teammate. Leilani finally lets out a deep sigh and sits to work on her lunch.

***

It’s about 3:50 in the afternoon now and Leilani & Alba meet in front of the library before walking together to Club Rush, although it was more than that since there were sports programs and fraternities & sororities among other things advertising themselves. Leilani & Alba stayed by each other’s sides among the stampede of young adults moving to and fro, listening to each other’s interests as one would be really listening on a program pitch. Rush was fun and it’s happening again by this time tomorrow, but both girls have pretty much decided on what clubs they wanted to join by the time Rush ended at sunset: Leilani has decided on auditioning for the Dance Team, Alba chose the fashion club called FAST, and both decided on the Bruin Visual Arts club as well as the general Drawing & Painting club together.

Leilani and Alba, both holding flyers filled with information at hand, head to the cafeteria for their dinner. They slowly walk through the buffet lines, and eventually sit at a smaller table. Leilani starts, “So, how was your day today?”

Alba answers right after sipping her water, “Well, Spanish for Spanish Speakers this morning was actually really fun because we really got into it, which is rare for a first day I think. Then of course we had Drawing and Painting together so you know how I felt with that, then the cafeteria was really packed at 12:45 so it took me a minute to find a table for myself, then US History at 2 something was completely boring.”

Leilani mouths off, “Ew.”

Alba reciprocates the tone, “Right?! Anyways, how was your day, Lei?”

Leilani, gushing over the nickname, answers, “That’s so cute. So, Japanese Culture was actually more informative than I thought it would have been for the first day, then Drawing & Painting was fun for the both of us, and Speech class right afterwards was boring like I thought and it just made me hangrier by the time it ended. And, oh my gosh,” Leilani then brings her hands to the table so Alba can grip them & they get closer together, “I met a guy.”

Alba gets more giddy as she finishes swallowing her spoonful of mac & cheese, “Is it THE guy? The one from Starbucks this morning?”

Leilani answers, “Somewhat.”

Alba flies back into her chair while still holding Leilani’s hands, “What does ‘somewhat’ mean?”

Leilani replies, “While you were in US History, I decided to go eat lunch at the library. Then, I saw a guy that looked almost exactly like the guy reading a book, but when I confronted him it turned out to not be him. The two looked so similar, but yeah. Anyways, the guy I met at lunch was so nice about the mistake, then we talked a little before he was similarly pulled away by teammates for a sport that he didn’t mention yet; he came back because he forgot his stuff, but he left by saying his name and giving me this adorable puppy-pout face as he was being dragged away and it was so cute!”

Alba, noticing how her friend is beaming over this guy that she just met, comments, “Hold your horses there, girl; you just met the dude. I probably shouldn’t be talking, since I’ve imagined so many romantic dates just from the initial meet, but still.” After a deep breath and another bite of mac & cheese, she asks, “So, what is this new guy’s name and what does he look like?”

Leilani answers, “His name is Jamey. Very tall, maybe a little over 6 feet. Brunette hair, long in the front & top and short in the back & sides, curls all over the place. Muscular build but not bulging. The softest smile ever yet cleanest jaw you’d ever see, and he has these piercing brown eyes that look like they’re listening to you when you speak.” She takes a deep breath, then gazes in awe up at the ceiling as she imagines Jamey & slurps at her chow mein.

Alba tries to imagine him in her mind then mouths out, “That sounds so dreamy. Does he have a brother so we can hang out?”

Leilani chuckles before answering, “We didn’t go that far into the conversation, but speaking of ‘hanging out’, he did say that he wished for the best in our search for the actual mystery man so we can all hang out.”

Alba coos as she’s still chewing her food, “Aww. Glad to see that not all guys are threatened by each other for once.”

Leilani spills, “I know, right? Ugh, reminds me of Carter...”

Alba has her interest peaked once again, “Ooh, spill tea, please.”

Leilani wards her off, “That ‘anxie-tea’ is for another time. The wounds are still a little fresh, and especially not here in the cafeteria.”

Alba tries to hold in her laugh while there’s still food inside her mouth while Leilani brings out a small chuckle. After swallowing, she still laughs, “‘Anxie-tea.’ Girl, you’re funny.” After composing herself, Alba refocuses, “I understand, Lei; just know that I’m here for you. And now you even have Jamey although God knows when or where you’ll see him again.” Both girls shrug their shoulders and finish their food before walking towards their dorm room & continuing the talk in so many directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't go to UCLA, and although I do have a few friends that go to the school I didn't interview them for details about the school; therefore, I'm sorry if there are inaccuracies with the layout of UCLA like the cafeteria or the class times or if there even is a Starbucks near the dorms.


	3. Names

The next day, it’s now onto the Tuesday/Thursday class schedule. Sure, it’s still technically a syllabus day, but more new environments & people might make the day interesting. This optimism doesn’t come to the mind of Alba as she’s being dragged once again through the open campus filled with 7 AM California air.

Alba moans, “Are you going to make this a habit?”

Leilani grumbles, “If I don’t wake you up early, I’m afraid you’re going to never get out of that bed and into the world.”

“Girl, we’re going to school, not into the world. You can bring it down a notch.”

“No. And just so you know, I cannot survive the morning without my caffeine; the only reason I was in a good mood by this time yesterday was because of first-day excitement and you can see that it’s not the first day anymore so don’t test me.”

Alba is about to make another grumble, but she then has a sudden realization before verbalising, “Are you sure about that? Or are you just hoping that you see Mystery Lacrosse Guy again?”

Leilani stops in her tracks to turn to her friend, who is giving her an evil smirk, before she exclaims in a higher than usual pitch, “No, I am not hoping for him to be there!” Leilani then turns once again and proceeds to pull Alba to their Starbucks. They enter the store to find many students already in it, most of the people waiting in line sharing the same expression of exhaustion on their faces as Alba’s.

Just as the two pass through the doorway & end up in the back of the line, a nice voice shouts out, “Lei?” The two girls turn their heads towards the call, to find the mystery guy looking up from his phone at the same table as yesterday while his backpack & gear sit in a chair next to him and making direct eye contact with Leilani.

Leilani turns away with face full of blush, but Alba walks around Leilani, turns her to the guy’s direction, and pushes her towards his table. Leilani slightly trips on her feet as she’s pushed, but the guy stood up from his chair just in time to catch her. Both of them chuckle, then Leilani starts, “Hi. I promise I’m not this clumsy, especially as a dancer. And I promise I won’t make this whole ‘falling into your arms’ thing a habit.”

The guy that’s now bringing her upright simply chuckles more before staring into her eyes & stating in a soft yet confident tone, “Shame.” Just that one word makes her heart jump a little bit. He clears her throat to then put forth, “Anyways, I'm thinking that Lei isn’t your whole name, but if it is then it’s a great name.”

Leilani melts a little in her legs before answering, “Well, you’re right in that it’s not my whole first name, but I do think it’s a cute nickname.” Leilani turns around to motion for Alba to come where they’re standing. Once Alba leaves the line to come to Leilani, Leilani turns back to the boy in front of her then presents her hand, “My name is Leilani Evans. And this girl right here is my friend & dorm-mate, Alba Wilson.”

The guy laughs at the formal gesture, but still brings his hand up to reciprocate the shake & this time actually connects before saying, “Well, nice to meet you, Leilani and Alba. I’m Peter Kavinsky.” He then releases his hand from Leilani’s in order to shake Alba’s hand. After those two shake and release, Peter continues to converse with both of them, “So, what time do you girls start today?”

Alba cuts in, “9:30ish.”

Peter gives a confused look before stating, “Most of these people are here already because they're rushing for an 8 o’clock class. So, what are you two doing here so early when you should be sleeping?”

Alba cocks her head to the side as she remarks, “Ask this one.” Both of them look to Leilani.

Leilani brings her hair to the front of her shoulders as if trying to hide embarrassment, “Still used to waking up early, like 4 in the morning early.” She then turns her attention to Alba and continues in a sarcastic tone, “I promise to be better.” Alba pouts, knowing she’ll be woken up early for the rest of her time in UCLA, but Peter laughs out loud to the point of a few people looking in their direction.

Peter doesn’t give those lookers any attention, but keeps his eyes on the girls. He then offers, “I don’t have a class until 9:35 too, so do you girls want to sit & hang out?”

Alba interrupts before Leilani could answer, “You two kids go ahead. I’m going to put in our order. The same as yesterday, Lei?” Leilani simply nods at Alba, then Alba leaves for the back of the line.

Leilani and Peter sit at his table, then Leilani restarts the conversation, “So, what would you like to talk about?”

Peter looks up in thought, “Hmm. You said that you were a dancer. Is that your major?”

Leilani nods, “That’s my minor, but my actual major is Sociology. I see that you’re into lacrosse, but I doubt that it’s a major here.”

Peter chuckles, “It is, but it’s not my biggest passion. I’m currently an Electrical Engineer major here with a minor in Writing.”

“Huh, never pegged you for that major.”

“Why? Do I not seem like the type to be working with electronics?”

“Or a writer, but touche. So, why Electrical Engineering?”

“Mostly for the money and availability of jobs. Still, once I got into it, it actually became interesting to learn and play with.” After a small pause to think of a new question, Peter continues, “So, what type of dance do you do?”

“I started with hula naturally in Hawaii, but took a break from dance in general for a while. Eventually got back into dance around 8th grade with hip-hop and contemporary.”

“What’s contemporary?”

“Well, just think of ballet, but the moves aren’t as so hardcore technical or clean but rather meant to emphasize emotion.”

“Nice.”

“So, what are other things that interest you, other than electrical engineering, lacrosse, and making girls fall for you with your charm?”

“Ha, while the last one used to be one of my favorite past times, I am taken. Anyways, I did recently become a more avid reader and take up Writing as my minor because of her.”

Leilani straightens in her chair but still keeps a genuine smile on her face, “Well, congratulations. With your looks and personality, it’s no wonder.” She leans back onto the table as she asks, “So, what’s her name and does she go here?”

Peter responds, “Her name is Lara Jean Song Covey.”

“Wow, that is such a pretty name.”

“It it. Anyways, sadly no, she doesn’t go here; she actually goes to UNC.”

Leilani postures in surprise once again, “Dang, talk about long distance.”

Peter continues, “Yeah, both of us are originally from Virginia, but I came here on a lacrosse scholarship, and she got off the UNC waitlist a little bit after senior year. We hashed things out for a little bit, but eventually we came to an understanding and we’re still together and everything. She’s the type that looks through the bravado and stuff.”

Leilani nods and chuckles, “‘Bravado,’ huh? The whole avid reading thing shows.” Peter does a playful bow, making Leilani laugh even more.

Alba arrives at the table with the orders, then sits down silently. Peter mouths off, “So, how about you? You got any stories about a boo?” He immediately notices Leilani slouch into her chair and twirl her hair between her fingers, so he redirects, “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. We practically just met, so just another reason for you to not have to expose your whole life story.”

Leilani looks at Alba with a smile which surprises Alba, then she looks at Peter to say, “Well, I don’t think I have for the whole life story, but I do have an ex-story. Besides, Alba was wondering about this subject too and this environment is loud enough to not be heard.” After pulling her curly hair to behind her shoulders and taking another deep breath, she exposes, “Well, his name was Carter. Samoan, a little shorter than you but still a good height. More muscles and fat than bone in his body, so he had that imposing look; think of Maui from Moana but more normally proportioned and hair not as long. Protected me whenever I needed it, talked to me whenever I wanted. However, eventually I noticed how possessive he was of me, especially when I saw how jealous he was towards my guy friends to the point of punching a few of them on separate occasions.” Both Alba and Peter cringe at that fact, but Leilani urges, “Then a few days after graduation a few months ago, he suddenly broke up with me when I thought we were happy; he said that he couldn’t really handle being without me if I were in out-of-state college. But, a few days later I found out that he had been cheating even before graduation. Ironic, huh?”

Alba adjusts her weight in her chair so that she could lean in to hug Leilani since she was practically shaking by the time she got to the punching part. Leilani wraps her arms around Alba’s hugging arms for a few seconds while Peter simply stays back & looks at Leilani just in case if she wasn’t comfortable with a male touch after talking about such a touchy subject.

Peter stays in a solemn tone, “I’m sorry to have brought that up.”

Leilani snarks, “Yeah, you should be sorry.” She laughs at her own remark, while it takes a few seconds before the other two join in with her laughter. After wiping away a singular tear, Leilani directs her attention to Alba, “So, Alba, do you want to say anything?”

Alba sits down and gives her friend a solemn smile, “Another time, another time. Besides, while you’re weirdly comfortable talking about your ex to two people you just met within two days, I need some time.”

Leilani grips her friend’s hand as she comforts her, “I understand. Besides, we probably need to go back to the dorm room and get ready for our classes.” All three of them stand up with their stuff at hand while Leilani brings her right hand up for one last handshake as she says, “Nice to finally meet you for real and for talking, Peter.” Peter seems to naturally bring both arms up for a hug; he is about to lower his arms in realization but is stopped when both of the shorter girls spring into his torso for a hug. All three chuckle then separate before Leilani signs off, “See you around, hopefully.”

Peter pops in, “How about we give each other our numbers so we don’t have to wait for face-to-face to talk?” He widens his eyes in anticipation for an answer from either of them, to which both girls sigh and bring out their phones. A few moments pass with which the three exchange numbers, then they say their final goodbyes before the girls leave Starbucks while Peter stays.

***

9:15 AM, and both girls have already said their goodbyes to each other so they can both leave for their individual classes. Walking through the campus would’ve been a breeze if she actually knew where she was going, but Leilani forgot the names of buildings said in the tour during the spring so she has to refer to her hand-map to navigate through this maze called a college campus.

9:25, and she arrives to her GE Philosophy class to see it already halfway full. She’s looking around for an open seat when she finds a familiar red gym bag sitting on top of a desk in the second from the front row; in the seat is an even more familiar sight of curly brunet hair cascading down the front of the guy’s face and very broad shoulders on a slightly-oversized tee. Leilani moves over to the seat next to this guy then taps his shoulder; she says at the same time, “Jamey?”

He looks up from his phone hidden within a book to perceive the sensation that is Leilani with more defined curls, a white crop-top with a black heart on the front, black denim booty shorts, black high-top Chuck Taylors, and the most radiant smile he has ever seen. He stands up automatically from the chair and brings his arms for a hug, “Hey, Leilani. I can’t believe we have a class together!” He stops himself when noticing his arms’ position, so he slowly lowers them before being surprised by Leilani reciprocating the hug. Both chuckle, then he continues the conversation as they let go & sit in their seats, “How are you?”

“I’m great. How are you, and how was your first day yesterday?”

“I’m good, but yesterday was boring as all heck 'cause of syllabus day. New day, but it’s bound to be the same, I’m guessing.”

“Well, not the same pace now that you’ve seen me,” capping the sentence with a flick of her hair with dramaticism but then immediately laughs it off. All Jamey does is laugh and nod at the comment. Leilani changes the subject, “So, are you ready for this class?”

“Yeah. It kinda works alongside my minor of Writing while Linguistics with an emphasis in ASL is my major here.”

“Nice; I’ve heard that program here is very popular. What made you get into those choices?”

Jamey contemplates before huffing out his answers, “It’s a mix of my personal love of free-writing, my girlfriend Sierra’s love for writing, and my experience with my little brother’s deafness.”

“Huh, what is with guys using their girlfriends as inspiration for what they want to do in college?” Jamey peers at Leilani with a confused expression, so Leilani clarifies, “Oh, speaking of that, I found my mystery guy this morning.”

Jamey gives an inquisitive face, “Cool. Was he friendly?”

Leilani replies, “Oh, so friendly, but also a bit suave if not cocky. Anyways, he said he was getting more into reading because of his girlfriend, which was weird to tell me on the first official talking, but I’m glad that he’s open. Actually, now that I think about it, there’s no reason to think why I thought you two weren’t the same person; both of you have brunet curly hair, you’re about 6 feet, even similar body types. Now that I know you’re two separate people, you two could be mistaken for twins; the only difference that I can see are the personality, your hair is slightly longer, and you have a scar on your chin there that he doesn’t. If you don’t mind, can I ask where you got that mark?”

Jamey laughs at the memory, “Oh yeah, I was 6 when a dog at a family party was playing a little too rough and accidentally bit me here. It was scary at the time, but at least I got a cool scar from it.” Leilani brings her right hand to his scar, touching it with her thumb, while Jamey leans his head into her cupped palm while giving her his signature puppy-eye look.

Leilani scoffs, “Oh my gosh, stop being so cute. Your puppy eyes cut deep and you have a girlfriend.”

Jamey smoothly cuts in, “Well, it is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so my soul is essentially a cute puppy to you; thanks for that.” Both laugh out loud at the comment, then Jamey continues after a few seconds, “So, do you mind telling me who this mystery guy is? I hope you remembered my request for all of us to hang out.”

Leilani flicks all of her hair to behind her shoulders in order to show her whole face, “Don’t worry, Jamey; I do remember your request. I did mention that to my roommate, but not to the guy yet. Oh, and his name is --” but her answer is interrupted by the immediate start of the class when the professor attempts to call the students’ attention. Jamey looks back to her to see if she finished the answer, but she just says, “I’ll tell you later.” He nods his head and they both start to pay attention as a syllabus is placed in front of each of them.

***

Their Philosophy class is finally over after about an hour and a half, so Leilani and Jamey walk out of class together. Even better news, it turns out Alba has the same class as them next, Creative Writing. Alba texts Leilani, “Hey, boo! Just remembered that we have the same Creative Writing class next! See you soon, love!”

Leilani texts back, “See you soon, Alba!” followed by a kissing emoji.

And the moment just gets even better as Jamey and her continue walking: Peter just sent her a text, “Hey, Lei. Do you by chance have Creative Writing class next?”

Leilani responds, “Um, are you stalking me, Mr. Kavinsky?”

Peter texts back hurriedly, “No way! I ask because I’m in that class too!”

She texts one final thing, “Oh my gosh, you get to see me and Alba in that class. See you soon!”

Leilani locks her phone then turns her attention to Jamey, “Oh my gosh, Jamey. I have news!”

As she’s tugging on his arm, Jamey asks in a surprised tone, “What?”

She answers, “You get to meet both my roommate and my mystery guy in our next class!”

He smirks at both her excitement & the idea of the four of them in the same class, “Whoa whoa whoa, really? That’s coincidental.” Leilani laughs out loud, to which Jamey asks, “What’s so funny now?” They arrive to their new class, Jamey opening the door for Leilani, when they find it making a loud and high-pitched noise; both of them cringe at the sound and Jamey comments, “Wow, what a first impression for the class, huh?” Both of them simply chuckle as they enter.

As they finally enter their classroom, Leilani refocuses, “What’s so funny is that whole ‘whoa, whoa, whoa’ thing you just did is what the mystery guy does too.”

Jamey laughs, “It’s not really new or original.”

Leilani shrugs her shoulders, “Still, just something funny to me.” The two of them start unpacking at desks a little towards the front since they’re the first ones to arrive to the class. After a couple minutes, some students start scrambling into the classroom that can fit around 20 people, including Alba.

Alba notices Leilani first, “Hey, girl! It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

As they embrace, Leilani chuckles, “It’s only been almost 2 hours.”

Alba defends herself, “Hey, if you were in my last class, you would think it’d be days since the last time we saw each other.” She sets her bag down and notices a boy sitting next to Leilani’s desk with some notebooks already out, “Who’s the cutey sitting next to you?”

After the realization that Jamey is not standing up, Leilani pats his shoulder to ask him to stand up, “Jamey, this is my friend & dorm-mate, Alba.” He finally stands and faces the two of them as Leilani continues, “Alba, this is the guy I met in the library yesterday, Jamey.”

Jamey presents his hand for a handshake, “Hi, Alba. Nice to meet you,” but his head tilts to one side a bit and his eyes squint in confusion immediately after presenting his hand; the reason for his confusion is Alba’s expression of sheer awe.

Alba shakes his hand as she turns her head to Leilani and whispers, “Oh my God, he looks just like him!”

Leilani mouths off in a whisper as well, “I know, right? It’s weird.”

Jamey chimes in, whispering too, “Are we talking about your mystery man?”

Alba sticks her attention to Leilani and exclaims in a normal volume now, “Really? You called him ‘your mystery man’?”

Leilani puts her arms up in surrender as she now defends herself, “Hey, we only just figured out his name this morning, and I just found out Jamey was in my same class so I didn’t even say his name to him yet.”

Jamey drops his head to the side in impatience as he finally asks them, “Ladies, I’m not any closer to knowing his name here.”

Leilani verbalizes, “Sorry. His name is --” But she's interrupted by the entrance door opening with the unusually loud noise from earlier; everyone already in the classroom cringe at the sound but eventually bring themselves to normal. Leilani looks over at the entrance and nudges at Jamey’s arm with her elbow as she announces to just them three, “Oh, there he is. Hey!” She proceeds to wave in his direction, even though sunlight is hitting all three of them in the face as the door is slowly closing. Once the door closes shut and the room light is normal, everyone is now able to look towards the entrance and put their arms down to see the mystery guy.

And that’s when it happened.

Both boys are frozen, anxiety permeating around the room like thunder & lightning, as they’re staring into each other as if no one else existed in the world at that moment. Leilani & Alba notice this tension, but Alba is the first to speak, “Jamey, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” No reply.

The guy across the room walks around all of the desks slowly, never taking his eyes off of Jamey. He eventually reaches where the three are standing, both boys still having their mouths ajar and eyes still very wide.

“Peter?” That’s Jamey.

“Jamey?” That’s Peter.

“What’s happening?” That’s definitely Alba.

“Oh my God.” There’s Leilani. “We thought they looked like brothers because they are.”

Peter arms give out, dropping everything on his person, while Jamey’s arms go out at the same time. They both walk closer, faces softening to the point of looking like they were going to break down. Jamey brings his hands to Peter’s face while Peter does the same to Jamey’s face; now both are making incomprehensible noises as they pull each other into an strong embrace.

Alba comments silently to Leilani, “Did we just bring long-lost brothers together?”

Leilani answers silently, “Looks like it, and we weren't even trying to.”

Both boys turn their cries into smiles and start shaking each other excitedly once they break from the embrace, Peter starts off, “Man, I can’t believe you’re here!”

Jamey echos, “Dude, I can’t believe you’re here!” Both pull each other into another embrace, this time with more joy and excited shaking.

Peter adlibs, “Whoa.”

Jamey follows after, “Whoa.”

Leilani and Alba say at the same time, “Whoa.” This one causes Peter and Jamey to turn to face them.

Alba snickers, “Well, I guess there’s no need for further introductions.”

Both boys chuckle as this comment, then Leilani walks in and points at Peter, “So, Peter Kavinsky?” Peter simply nods, still trying to breathe. She then points her finger at Jamey, “And that makes you …?”

He replies, “Jamey Kavinsky.”

Alba comes next to Leilani as she asks, “Have you guys not seen each other for a while?”

Jamey answers, “It’s been years.”

Peter continues, “We have the same parents, but they eventually got divorced a little after our younger brother was born.”

Jamey chimes, “Custody decided that I go with Dad,”

Switching to Peter, “Owen and I stayed with Mom and she never remarried,”

Back to Jamey, “Dad and I went to California from Virginia, he remarried and they had my younger brother, Ty.”

Leilani breaks this pattern by reacting stronger than she thought she would, “Why were you separated? I vaguely get some good reasons for divorce, but the idea that you two had to be separated because of it seems utterly stupid and wrong!” The other three were taken aback by her sudden shift in tone, but Alba immediately softens her face and grips at one of her friend’s hands.

Peter and Jamey look to Alba for clarification while Leilani tugs at her hair in silence, but no answer comes when the professor walks in and announces for the start of class. Alba notices their expressions and says finally, “For another time. How does our dorm sound after this class for lunch?”

Peter and Jamey instinctively rub at the back of their necks at the same time. This twin moment makes Alba and Leilani laugh just at the timing and similarity of it all; the twins look at each other, back at the girls, back to each other, then just end up laughing with them. Leilani finally relaxes and chuckles, “Sit down, you dorks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I just did that! :D  
> Anyways, re-watching both TATBILB and Sierra Burgess for research, I noticed in the latter movie how Jamey has neither a last name or a parental figure mentioned; so I ret-conned this universe to where Jamey turns out to be a Kavinsky but he still has Ty as a little brother. Details will show up later.  
> Side note: Always and Forever, Lara Jean wasn't very helpful in saying what major Peter wanted to go into for college (in fact, the book was inaccurate in general for not mentioning anyone's majors, like wouldn't there at least be a mention if Lara Jean were to go into Literature or Peter would be Undecided or something?), so I just made something up for pretty much everyone including Peter.


	4. Twenty Questions

Well, Creative Writing became more eventful than anyone could think. One, Alba didn’t pass out into a deep sleep in this class, thus Leilani didn’t have to wake her up. Two, the syllabus part for this class was relatively short, then the class did a small activity for themselves where they just wrote about anything on a sheet of paper; their professor then said that this free-writing will have to be incorporated in some way to their final paper, but it can be changed before the end of Thursday’s class session. Oh, and three, there’s the small fact that Peter and Jamey Kavinsky found out that they went to same college after years of not seeing each other! The last one never left the minds of Peter & Jamey themselves during class, and it definitely never left their minds while they were walking out of Creative Writing class with Leilani & Alba.

The four of them exit together, walking to the cafeteria with constant small talk between all of them. Busting through the walking masses of other college students, they all decided on Subway. After only a few minutes of line-waiting, they enter their orders and wait; even more several minutes later, their food is prepped and they pay before promptly leaving. More walking and small talking occurs between the four, the whole time the twins had one of their arms wrapped around each other; the girls got jealous, so they did the same as them to think that they can do the arm-around-body thing better. 

They eventually arrive at the girls’ dorm room, and Alba flies through into the room at the moment of Leilani being finished with unlocking the door. Alba plops onto her bed and shouts in an exhaustive tone, “Ugh, what a day!”

Leilani enters next, “We were only in classes for 3 hours.”

As Peter & Jamey enter, Alba exclaims, “But remember that we’ve been awake for 5 hours in the day, which included suffering through syllabi and reconnecting brothers all before lunchtime!”

The twins accidentally ignore what Alba just said, more focused on the room’s environment itself. They’re looking at all of the interesting colors in the room from the bed sheets, the desk accessories, the paintings on either side of the wall, and the afternoon sunlight hitting all of these items just right to illuminate them perfectly. Both of them glance finally at the paintings, then both say at the same time once again, “Nice paintings,” but Peter’s tone & facial expression was more so showing of simply being impressed while Jamey’s was more of being reflective & emotionally deeper. 

Leilani walks over to the twins and pushes them into her bed as she orders, “Sit. We have much to discuss.” The two of them laugh as they are pushed to sit on the full-sized bed while Leilani walks over to the door to close it. Walking back to her friends, Leilani continues, “So, in order for you two to get reacquainted and for all four of us to be better friends, why don’t we play a game where everyone can talk as well as eat our lunch?”

Peter interjects, “And what might you suggest, babe?”

Alba comments while still lying on her own bed, “Babe? You just officially met the girl this morning and you’re already on pet names level.” Peter reacts by gently tossing one of Leilani’s pillows at Alba, to which she over-dramatizes a gasp and starts taking out her Subway from her bag.

Leilani tries to regain control, “Jamey?”

Jamey replies, “Yes, ma’am?”

Leilani exhales, “Ugh. Everyone on the floor; since no one was helpful in suggesting a game, we’ll just stick with 20 Questions. Try to start off innocent though, but we can work from there in any way we want.” Everyone then nods and proceeds to take out their individual lunches.

Jamey adds, “To keep track of who has been asked how many questions, we’ll address before asking a person as the first letter of their first name & the question number. How’s that?”

Peter comments, “Who knew you could take charge so quickly? You were never like this when we were younger.” Peter then nudges his shoulder into Jamey’s arm to which Jamey cutely smiles at his twin, almost forgetting in how it felt to be complimented by his twin. Meanwhile, Leilani and Alba simply nod at Jamey’s suggestion.

Alba mouths off, “Okay, I’ll start. Um, L1, are you a virgin?” The question quickly turns Leilani’s face red.

Peter leans in towards Leilani as he creates a big smile across his own face, “So much for clean from the start.” This makes her even more red in the face.

Jamey looks at Leilani with concerned eyes before inputting, “If you don’t want to answer, you can just say you don’t want to.”

Leilani quickly recovers by moving stray hairs covering her ears to back behind her ears, then bravely professes, “Yes, I am still a virgin. I loved Carter, but we never did anything like that.” Peter is about to ask her about Carter, but she stops him before he can even start his sentence, “It’s my turn to ask someone a question, Peter,” to which he just flashes pleading puppy eyes. Leilani then scoffs, “Please, Jamey’s already done that face to me so I’m immune to both of you doing it to me. Right, Alba?” but Alba doesn’t respond as she herself is staring at those puppy-eyes. Leilani sighes, rolls her eyes, and continues, “Um, J1, what got you into football?”

Jamey answers, even including Peter into the answer, “Peter and I were always into sports, especially soccer. After the separation, one of the things keeping me connected to him was sports, but me being a leader type by playing quarterback was different but so much fun.” He then beams an adorable smile as if nostalgic, then turns to Alba, “Alright, A1, what’s your major and why?”

Alba replies, “Art because there are so many mediums available to express myself. It started off as a vent since my parents didn’t really pay attention and I was an only child; but it eventually grew into something I want to do for the rest of my life once I took art classes in my middle school.” Alba then purses her lips in thought, then transitions her attention to Peter, “P1, were you popular in school and do you think that will happen here?”

Peter responds proudly, “I was very popular in high school and I enjoyed it,” closing his eyes as if basking in that glory in his thoughts while the rest just roll their eyes & sigh; Peter however turns to a surprisingly more serious tone, “But, once I started dating Lara Jean who wasn’t as popular, it showed me how more important the quality of the relationships are instead of the quantity.” He then flashes a small smile that quickly fades as he loses himself in memory of his girlfriend that’s miles away; noticing this, Jamey scoots closer to his brother for a side-hug which surprises Peter since they have not done that motion in such a long time that the sensation of it has almost been forgotten. Both start laughing out loud and they’re joined by Alba, but Leilani only smiles warmly to play with her own fingers nervously. 

Both of the twins notice her fidgeting, so Peter continues the game, “Okay, my turn: L2, why did you explode back at Creative Writing class?”

Leilani flings her head up in surprise, not thinking Peter was that attentive due to his egoic disposition; she eventually jokes, “Huh, now we’re getting into the really deep stuff?”

Peter is the one to reassure her now, “Remember, if you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”

After a few seconds of thought and a quickly stolen glance at Alba, Leilani takes in a deep breath and starts, “It’s going to come up sooner or later, so might as well now; besides, I think I can trust all of you with this information. So, the reason I exploded was because the idea of being unjustly separated from your family doesn’t resonate fondly with me; I think about the time my brother and I were on the streets of Hawaii after our parents almost killed each other in one of their fights and how our lives could have been so different if we never had each other in those times or now.” Trying to prevent tears from touching her hair, Leilani grips any hair hanging in front of the shoulders and flips it to her back; Alba crawls to her for a hug and the Kavinskys simply look in sincere awe and sheer confusion.

Jamey jumps in, “L3, how did you survive that?”

Leilani answers while trying to hold in sobs, “Well, we kept morale high by going to the beach a lot and I danced on the sidewalk while Kekoa found a random bucket to use as a drum for money. Besides that, it was a year of our lives full of begging, couch-crashing, and even dumpster diving here & there. Both of my bio parents were single children, so it’s not like we could go to any aunts or uncles.” She couldn’t hold the tears anymore, so she just let them flow; she was in labored breathing both because of the crying and the tightening of Alba’s hug. After wiping tears with her hands, she continues with a small smile on her face, “Then, when I was 11 and Kekoa was 10, we were confronted kindly by this couple after one of our performances and they asked us if we wanted to be adopted; we quickly said yes since they were so nice & giving despite us not being of their blood, and things got even better when they said they were expecting twin daughters shortly afterwards. I took care of Kekoa even while our parents were married, so I was easily able to babysit Yuri & Ren until now.” Leilani wraps her right arm around Alba’s head from under her chin and continues to breathe for a sense of control; she then moves on, “So, since you two asked a question, this next question is for both of you.” The twins nod at her, ready for anything: “What is it like being separated from your sibling, let alone a twin?”

Both immediately answer simultaneously, “Like hell.” The synchronicity would have normally made any of the girls laugh, but this was not the type of conversation to laugh at such a thing.

Peter starts his individual answer, “We were pretty much inseparable growing up: had the same friends, the same classes, played soccer together, and other stuff; as twins, we had the same energy levels and somewhat same personalities. Once him and Dad left, it was like I was never the same since I lost that energy that I was so reliant on him for; even though I had Owen as a younger brother, it still wasn’t the same as having Jamey.”

Jamey continues, “Ditto here, but Ty is a little younger than Owen and he’s deaf too, so having to be there for him was a reminder of having a sibling; still, it was never the same.”

The room is silent for a few moments until Alba breaks in, “Wow, we are messed up, aren’t we?” They all look at each other in surprise, but eventually snicker then turn into full-on laughs with each other.

Jamey refocus the conversation, “Okay, fine, let’s lighten things up a bit: A2, favorite color?”

Alba answers, “Easy, purple.”

Leilani interjects, “A3, why purple?”

Alba promptly answers, “Represents royalty, sensuality, and wisdom. And y’all know how sensual and wise I am.” She then proceeds to flick her hair in pride, only to be hit by another pillow although this time it’s Leilani to use it against her. She then turns her attention to Leilani, “L3, same question.”

Leilani answers, “Either orange or cyan. Whenever the sun sets in Hawaii, the light hitting the water just right makes this amazing orange glow in both the water and sky; and the water is this brilliant cyan during the daytime. Also, both are really bright colors which reflects my extrovertedness.” Moving on quickly, she turns her head to Jamey, “J3, favorite movie?”

Jamey replies, “Big Hero 6 or Remember the Titans; Big Hero 6 reminds me of Ty since he’s smarter than what people give him credit for, and Remember the Titans was such a good movie especially since it was football-based. P3, you?”

Peter replies, “Fight Club, easily.”

***

The game goes on between the four for a few more hours since most of the questions led to side stories or additional talking rather than just sticking to the questions. The questions kept the same range from small to very deep; nothing became too sexual because that type of conversation was for another time.

Jamey runs down, “Okay, so Alba is done, and Leilani, Peter, & myself get to answer one more question each. So, Peter, your turn to ask.”

Peter rubs his hands in anticipation, then looks at Leilani, “L20, what does your name mean?”

Leilani perks up & answers, “Well, Leilani is obviously Hawaiian, and it can come to mean many combinations of two words: the ‘Lei-’ part means child or flowers while the ‘-lani’ part means heavenly, royal, or sky.” Everyone else nods or purse their lips in approval, then Leilani continues, “Okay, for the sake of time and since this concerns the both of you, this question will be P20 and J20.” Both boys shuffle in their sitting positions with anticipation as they listen to the last question of the game: “When are you going to tell your families that you’ve found each other here at UCLA?”

Jamey and Peter straighten their backs then look at each other, but they look with smiles on their faces then look back at the girls; Jamey is the one to answer, “We were actually thinking of calling them after the game.”

Alba jumps excitedly, “Call them now!” She continues to jump on her knees, hopping towards Peter and eventually pulling on his arm while he contorts his face into shock and annoyance.

Leilani, being more sensitive to the situation, asks, “Do you two want to be alone? Cause we can leave.”

Peter playfully shrugs Alba off of his arm and he answers, “Well, you girls did bring us together, so you do deserve to meet them but maybe don’t jump in until we tell you to cause you jumping in front of the screens might freak them out.” 

As the two girls nods at them then each other, Jamey looks at his brother, “So, Mom or Dad first?”

Peter answers, “Let’s try Mom first. Her and Owen should be home by now, so might as well, right?” Jamey smiles & nods in agreement, which allows Peter to pull out his iPhone and brings up FaceTime. The two of them jump on Leilani’s bed and they position themselves so Jamey is out of frame; the phone starts ringing and eventually brings Mrs. Kavinsky up on the screen.

Mrs. Kavinsky greets as she sees her older son on screen, “Peter! Hey, honey! How are you? How was your second day?”

Staying cool but flashing a cute smile, “Hey, Mom. I’m great, the school is nice, and I made new friends. Here are some of them.” He then signals the girls to get in the frame as they giggle, then points to Leilani, “This is Leilani and here is her roommate Alba,” pointing to the opposite side of himself to refer to Alba.

Mrs. Kavinsky waves at them, “Hello!” She then focuses on Peter, “They’re just friends, right?” All three of them start laughing while Jamey is taking every ounce of his being not to expose himself by laughing along.

Peter calms down a bit in order to continue the conversation, “Yeah, Mom; they’re just friends so you don’t need to worry about that. Anyways, there’s another person that I want you to meet, but first I want you to close your eyes.”

She immediately questions, “Oh? Okay.” She closes her eyes for a few seconds, then Peter brings himself closer to Jamey so the two of them could be in the frame at the same time then asks Mom to open her eyes; the twins smile very big, but they don’t expect Mrs. Kavinsky to cover her ajar mouth in shock and clumsily drop her phone.

Peter & Jamey exclaim out to the phone, “Mom?” as Leilani covers her mouth with her hand while Alba simply laughs out loud.

Mrs. Kavinsky eventually rights the phone, and the twins immediately notice her eyes somehow showing both sorrow and joy at the same time. After a few seconds of staring, she shakily whispers, “Jamey?”

Peter hands the phone to Jamey, “Hi, Mom.” Jamey is practically on the verge of tears just as much as Mrs. Kavinsky.

Mrs. Kavinsky suddenly exclaims, “Oh, my baby!” She’s now visibly shaking but jolts up to stand as she continues, “Oh, Owen. He might want to see you. Owen, sweetheart! Your brother is on the phone from college with someone I want you to meet!” Her phone is rocking back and forth, signaling that she’s running to Owen’s room.

The phone is eventually handed to Owen as Jamey hands the phone back to Peter so Peter can state, “Hey, little man.”

Owen reverts his smile from a calm frown immediately into this huge smile at the sight of his older brother, “Hi, Pete. How’s college?”

Peter answers, “It’s good, and it got even better after meeting a few friends. Now, there is someone special I want you to meet, okay?” Owen simply nods his head, permitting Peter to lean towards Jamey once again so both of them are in-frame once again.

Jamey takes a calm tone so not to scare Owen, “Hey, buddy.” Owen’s reaction is more silent compared to Mom’s but his face still pretty much lights up and he covers his widely opening mouth in sheer excitement; this reaction cases both Jamey and Peter to chuckle.

Owen shows his teeth as he speaks, “Jamey? I’ve always wanted to meet you! We don’t talk about you at home since it makes Mom sad and I know that you couldn’t see us, but I really have always wanted to meet you.” Owen looks away from the phone and to Mrs. Kavinsky who’s standing out of frame with concerned eyes; he’s sensitive like that.

Jamey replies, “Hey, Owen. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you grow up, but Peter has talked a lot about you already and I just want you to know that I’m here now, so none of you have to be sad anymore, okay?” to which Owen simply nods in response. Jamey continues, “You know? I think you would really like Ty. He’s just as smart and sensitive as you, but also as brave as you;” Owen smiles warmly at this comment.

Peter, still holding the phone in that position, signs off, “Don’t worry, man; we’ll talk more later. Right now, we need to end the call cause we have something else to do. But know that you’ll be seeing more of us instead of just me soon enough, alright?” Mrs. Kavinsky comes back in frame and flashes an understanding yet still sorrow look in her eyes. Peter and Jamey then say at the same time, “Love you!” Mrs. Kavinsky and Owen say it back before both ends hang up the call; Peter then sighs in relief, “Wow, that was much better than I expected.”

Leilani interjects, “Were you expecting something else?”

Peter answers, “I was expecting Mom to not be able to talk due to the shock of it all, and I thought Owen would be his usual silent self.”

Jamey adds, “Well, for this upcoming call, you won’t expect any words from Ty. Dad should be back from work though, so he’ll most probably pick up.” He pulls out his own Android phone to bring up Skype and starts to ring for Mr. Kavinsky.

The phone picks up almost immediately, so Jamey has to readjust on the bed quickly so Peter is not in the frame as of yet. Mr. Kavinsky offers a warm smile before answering in a chill tone, “Hey, son. How has school been? Is everything okay?”

Jamey reassures his father, “Hey, Dad. Everything is okay at school; in fact, everything is great now, thanks to some friends I want you to meet.” Jamey signals to the girls like how Peter signaled them to get into the frame, then the girls & Mr. Kavinsky greet each other warmly. As the girls leave the frame, Jamey continues, “Now, there is someone else that I want you to meet. Are you ready?” 

Mr. Kavinsky nods at the phone, signaling Jamey to adjust closer to Peter so both can be in the frame; Peter greets in a calmer if almost nervous tone, “Hi, Dad,” which causes a concerning reaction where Mr. Kavinsky is utterly silent and his eyes become wide. After a few seconds, both Peter and Jamey squint their eyes at the screen and simultaneously ask, “Dad?”

Mr. Kavinsky’s face relaxes back into a small smile and whispers more so because of the shock, “My boys. My twins.” He starts laughing out loud while tears slowly form in his eyes; the loud laugh is followed by the sound of a door opening somewhere off frame on Mr. Kavinsky’s side. Mr. Kavinsky looks towards the source of the noise to find his youngest son coming into the room, then motions for Ty to come closer to the phone.

Jamey hands Peter the phone in order to perform signs as Ty comes on screen; Jamey signs, “Hey, buddy. There is someone I like for you to meet.” Ty gives the go-ahead in his own way, then Jamey moves once again towards Peter as Peter still holds on to the phone. Ty’s little eyes practically bulge out of his eyes in excitement at the sight of two Jameys, so Jamey continues signing, “Ty, this is Peter, your older half-brother and my twin. He used to live with my mom and younger brother who is a little older than you, but now he goes to the same school as me. Isn’t that crazy?” During that whole sequence, Jamey couldn’t stop smiling so wide.

Ty responds, “That is crazy. Tell him I say hi.”

Jamey responds with an okay, then turns to Peter, “He says ‘Hi’.”

Naturally, Peter looks at the phone and answers, “Hey, buddy. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” Jamey chuckles a bit, causing Peter to look back at him in confusion; Jamey then looks towards Ty again as he signs what Peter just said.

Ty’s expression turns into somewhat of a pout, then signs his own sentence; Peter looks over at Jamey, who states, “Ty says that I’m the only one that can call him buddy.”

Peter keeps his attention to his twin, “Oh, we have a sassy one.” He then turns to Ty on the phone, “Well, Ty, it was still nice to meet you. And I hope we can all meet up someday.” Jamey translates for him, leading to Ty contorting a big smile on his face before leaving.

Mr. Kavinsky comes back into the frame, “Well, it’s almost dinner time for Ty, so I’ll leave you all to it. It was great to see all of you, especially you Peter.” Peter and Jamey wave back before both ends of the call hang up.

A few minutes pass by, no one really saying anything. Eventually, Alba jumps off the bed and asks, “So, do you guys want to grab dinner now then we can all do our homework together?”

Leilani pitches in, “I think that’s a great idea.”

Peter and Jamey look at each other before Peter comes to a conclusion: “Sorry, ladies, but it’s been too long since it’s been just the two of us.”

Jamey continues the response, “We would like to talk between just the two of us, if that’s okay.”

Leilani responds, “Sure. We’ll let you two have your space; you deserve it.”

Alba comes in, “See you two tomorrow?”

The twins stand up from Leilani’s bed and state together, “Definitely.”

Alba mouths off, “Is that going to happen all the time?”

The twins, as well as Leilani, answer, “Oh, definitely,” causing all four to laugh. They eventually hug goodbyes to each other, then the boys grab their bags and eventually each other in a brotherly side-embrace as they exit the girls’ dorm room.

Leilani closes the door behind the boys, which upsets Alba, “Hey, I thought we were getting dinner!”

Leilani responds, “It’s still early, and I think we should at least start homework before eating; it’s more rewarding that way.”

Alba sulks her shoulders before admitting defeat, “Fine.” The two of them then start to shuffle through their backpacks for their homework.

***

As they’re walking through the cool California evening, Jamey suddenly stops walking which causes Peter to almost slip on his feet and fall forward; luckily, Jamey was still holding on tight enough to keep his twin from hitting the ground. Peter complains, “Bro, what was that for? You good?”

Jamey answers, “Do you think the dorm office is open at this time?”

Peter shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know. Why?”

Jamey replies, “I just had an idea.”

Peter remains confused, “Well, do you want to tell me if it involves me almost kissing the ground?”

Jamey, straight to the point, “What do you think about being roommates?”

Peter, face almost as ecstatic as Jamey’s, responds, “Dude, why didn’t you say anything sooner? Let’s freaking go!” Jamey is now the one being pulled at the arms as Peter goes into a run.

Jamey yells as the wind continues to blow into his curly hair, “Dude, the office is the other way!”

Peter stops in his tracks and ad-libs, “My bad. I don’t know where I’m going.” Both of them start laughing as they turn around and run to the dorms office before it closes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter full of filling in some details about the characters! Just wanted to mention that Peter's reaction to seeing his father was more of nervousness than anger as seen in "Always and Forever, Lara Jean" because one I made this chapter (this story in general in fact) before I read the last two books of the series and two I imagined that Peter knew that Jamey & Ty were there so he didn't want to take things on a bad turn on the first day seeing his twin brother again. Next chapter will be more Leilani-centric.


	5. Dancing Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where I'm focusing on Leilani and her dancing, since it will challenge me to pick/choose when to be detailed or simple for movement scenes. Hopefully you guys like the chapter!

“Alba, stop pulling me!”

“No, love, I’m not stopping because you’ve been nervous about this for the whole week when I believe that you shouldn’t and you need an extra boost or else you would have been frozen on your bed instead of auditioning.”

It’s now Friday of the second week of school, and Leilani is supposed to be at her Dance program audition which starts at 5; it’s already 4:30 as the two girls argue & walk.

Leilani lies, “I promise you, Alba, I wasn’t going to not show up; I just had a little butterflies.”

Not believing her friend, Alba turns her head as she continues pulling Leilani to the theater, “Are you trying to convince me or yourself with that excuse?” Leilani simply pouts, pretty much answering her question; Alba just turns her head forward a few seconds before they eventually arrive at the entrance of the theater.

On each side of the entrance doors are Peter and Jamey, both with these huge grins on their faces and all of their thumbs up for encouragement. Leilani tries to hide her face in gleeful embarrassment at the sight of her three friends trying to bring her into the theater, but she’s terrible at hiding in general; she redirects her energy, knowing she can’t hide from them or the situation, “What are you guys doing here?”

Peter answers, “To support you, of course!”

Jamey adds, “Don’t worry; we all finished our homework before coming here. I know you’ve been up on both Peter and mine’s asses about that for the past few days, and we know better than to argue with you.”

Both answers cause Leilani to chuckle, but before she can formally thank them, her words are slurred as she’s jerked even harder towards the theater entrance as Alba exclaims, “Yeah yeah, everyone’s here, whatever. Come on, amiga! You have less than thirty minutes to warm up.”

Leilani sighes, “Ugh, I can’t really fight you on that because that’s true and I’m currently being pulled.” The two girls pass quickly through the doorway followed by the Kavinskys as they close the doors.

Once going through those doors, they find themselves in a small sort of lobby setting and spot multiple doors leading to the main theater room. The four of them pass through the middle doors to embrace the darkness within the theater hall other than the huge stage and a small table only a few feet away from the lip of the stage. Leilani is trying to take in the sight, but her moment is interrupted as now all three of them are grabbing onto some part of her body & pushing her towards the stairs positioned on downstage right; once jogging up the stairs and landing on the stage, Alba tosses Leilani’s dance bag to her before flashing thumbs-up and taking a seat next to the twins a couple rows behind the front row.

Once the pleading look in her eyes fades, she turns around to see fellow dancers already warming up: there is an impressive amount of people that has shown up for this event; granted, it wasn’t really an audition for something specific but rather just a showcase of skills of people who were interested in Dance. Leilani saw so many ethnicities, both genders, essentially all sizes but they all seemed very healthy, and so many looks just from looking at this stage. Some people were in the splits or had their feet perfectly held above their heads, others were marking through their own choreography, and more people were talking amongst themselves while casually stretching. As she was looking around, Leilani found bags lying behind the curtains behind her.

As she’s about to set down her bag, a 5’9” & lean African American guy with blonde hair situated as waves upon his head scowls at her and throws his head towards the opposite side of the stage, “Hey, newbies’ bags belong on the other side of the stage.”

Her attention now grabbed, Leilani glances at the seriousness in the male’s face and looks back down to the ground as she mutters, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She starts walking with her bag at hand to Stage Left, but the next thing she hears is a snicker coming from the same guy.

“I’m only kidding, darling! You could put your stuff anywhere you want, just as long as it doesn’t get in the way of our art.” As he says the last part of that sentence, he lowers his body into a dramatic mid-level and adds hitting jazz hands near his face.

Leilani both chuckles and sighs a breath of relief at this, “Oh, okay. Thanks.” She turns around again to finally set her bag down; but as she’s turning back to the boy, she notices both Peter and Jamey standing up from their seats and staring at both her and this new guy.

Noticing her pause, the new guy looks at where Leilani is staring and beholds her friends in the theater seats. The guy chuckles, “Are those your friends?”

Leilani nods and states, “Yep.” She looks at the boys again and signals to them with her arms as if saying ‘Stand down.’ As she sees them sit back down, she brings her gaze back to this guy, only to see him biting his bottom lip and almost seductively making his eyebrows dance around his face while still looking. Leilani snaps her fingers in front of the guy for him to refocus and laughs, “Hey. Off-limits.”

The guy purrs, “Oh, both of them? Seems you a freak, girl.” Leilani’s posture jolts straight in embarrassment at that comment, and what doesn’t help is Alba, Peter, & Jamey laughing in the audience so hysterically that a good portion of the dancers on stage look over at the three. The guy chuckles to himself once more, then finally brings his right arm up, “The name’s Caleb, junior, hopefully soon-to-be backup dancer to Beyonce. And you are?”

Leilani replies as she reciprocates the shake, “Leilani, freshman, and Sociology but minoring and very passionate about Dance.”

Caleb answers, “Can I just say: the gorgeously tan skin, the bit-wider face structure & piercing eyes, and the way you are working those white active shorts with palms and that aqua crop top; giving me hot Hawaiian vibes.”

Leilani blushes at the compliment as she starts warming herself up, “Well, thank you, Caleb. And can I just say that the red flannel around your waist really offsets your black soccer sweats & short-sleeved tee as well as those all-white Nikes?”

Caleb flicks at the flannel tied around his waist and beams a smile, “Why thank you.”

Small talk continues to be exchanged between the two of them as they warm up, then they’re interrupted by two girls with clipboards at hand walking and stopping at the small table in front of the stage lip.

Leilani whispers to Caleb, “Who are they?”

Caleb answers, “The one on the left with the blonde ponytail and very bright pink V-neck is Clare with no i, while the one on the right with the brunette waves and purple crop top is Claire with an i. Seniors, best friends with coincidentally similar names, the HBICs of this year’s program, supremely peppy.”

Clare starts to project her voice, “Hello, everybody! Please sign your names on both clipboards here and then take a number sticker. You can continue to warm up after you’re done, and we will put on music until everyone has been signed in.” All the dancers on the stage run in a fast yet surprisingly civilized manner to the table, and each person sign both clipboards which have a designated number for each name that they must pick up.

After a few minutes of signing in and warming up, Claire now yells, “Okay, people! Remember that this is not an audition, but all you’re doing is showing us what you can do. We will call out certain genres and if you can dance to that, then stay on stage; if not, just sit on these audience seats. We’ll go through a couple of songs for each genre, then we’ll move on to the next; try to dance for the whole song, but please sit down at the seats without hitting anyone if you cannot. Last thing: just have fun with it. Is everyone ready?!” All of the dancers enthusiastically reply with yeses or woos.

Clare returns to yelling, “Alrighty! We’ll start out with Hip Hop.” She picks up her phone from the table, but waits for a few moments before going further as she notices a few people hopping off of the stage. She presses upon her phone that activates the stage’s sound system to start playing “Summer Breeze” by Chris Brown. Some people exclaim in joy at the familiar sound, while others immediately position themselves into starting poses/movements.

Leilani, being a part of the latter, turns her face to upstage and starts to step backwards with an emphasis on her swaying hips hitting every beat; meanwhile, her hands play with her now-straightened hair, feeling the upcoming song as fun with a hint of sexy. Once Chris Brown starts singing words, she quickly turns to face the audience but immediately reverts back into a slow motion where her right foot is in a forced arch, all of her weight sits on her now-bent left leg, and her right hand flows from the front-roots of her hair to the ends as if imitating a breeze running in her hair [which is what the song literally says at that moment]. Chris Brown quickly transitions into the first verse full of energy, and Leilani immediately mirrors that by starting with hair flips and ending the sentence with a right-high-front-kick before hitting the following beats with precision.

Alba, Peter, Jamey, and even a good portion of the audience can’t stop staring at Leilani as she quickly & consistently switches between playfully interpreting the words with Caleb and practically attacking the hard beats throughout the song. They’re surprised and mouths ajar in awe as she’s taking up so little space yet looking like she’s the only one on the stage with her large presence. Leilani easily moves between hard & soft moves, jumps & floor-work, aggressive faces to smiles, and even adds a few tricks like a backbend or cartwheel here & there without hitting anyone around her. Eventually, once Chris Brown says the final word and the songs slowly fades towards the end, Leilani caresses her legs as she slowly falls into a middle splits and ends in that pose; by the time the song ends, the silence from the little crowd is so deafening yet the whites of the eyes coming from them are so apparent since their eyes are peeled onto Leilani and their jaws stay brokenly open.

Before any applause could be given for Leilani or anyone on the stage for that matter, Claire chimes in, “Alright, people; one minute break, then moving on to next song.” Some dancers slouch on themselves breathlessly with hands on their knees, others rush to their bags for water, a few start casually talking once again, and the rest simply stretch themselves out before the next Hip Hop song. Leilani remains focused by stretching herself out; during this break, she sneaks a glance at her friends: Alba is actually calm by simply giving a thumbs up & a smile, but Peter & Jamey are the rowdy ones who’re throwing their hands excitedly in the air and mouthing stuff like ‘What the hell was that?’ or ‘That was amazing!’

After the minute is up, Clare clicks on the connected phone to start another song, which turns out to be “OTW” by Khalid featuring Ty Dolla $ign and 6lack. Immediately, Leilani flows to the floor in a right-in-front split with her front leg pointing Stage Left during the intro; she then transitions her body so she’s lying on her back while her head ends up the furthest body part being Downstage. After a few seconds, literally before Khalid starts singing words, Leilani brings her legs towards herself as if she’s in the fetal position yet still on her back & legs straightened; then, on the very first word of Khalid’s starting verse being the first chorus, Leilani lands a perfect kip-up onto her feet only to dramatically look to the audience over her left shoulder once Khalid says the word ‘drive’. She continues with chest pops, body rolls & winds, smooth footwork, arm motions hitting important beats with intention, and stunning hairography; once again, people in the audience are in awe of her and there were even a few times in the song when people on stage carefully left for the audience seats just to see Leilani perform, Caleb included.

The song ends, Leilani and a few others left on stage & striking strong poses. After a few seconds of silence, the earlier cycle repeats itself but now with some dancers returning to the stage. Once the break is over, Claire takes the phone in charge of the sound system and plays “Company,” a slower yet still sexy and hard-hitting song by Tinashe. Knowing this song as well, Leilani keeps for the most part of the first hook & verse on her feet with hitting beats or intense sensuality then transitionally switches between those & floorwork after the pre-hook.

Once the final pre-hook comes around, Leilani calms her body down while still dancing in order to whisper to Caleb, “At the end of the ‘Had it alls’ in the bridge, could you make me do a scoop flip then I transition from a straddle on your back onto the floor?”

Caleb, also trying to dance while taking in this request, “You trust me?” After Leilani sneaks a wink at him, Caleb chuckles and assures, “I gotchu, girl.” Alba, Peter, and Jamey all notice Leilani’s drop in energy & the small conversation, so they scoot towards the edges of the seats in anticipation.

The section of the song before the designated spot, the bridge, comes; after the little conversation, Leilani easily transitions herself further Stage Right so much so that she’s on the verge of touching the curtain while Caleb is closer to the center of the stage than earlier. While the ‘You can say you had it all’ sentence keeps on repeating, both Leilani and Caleb dance by themselves; the fifth out of six times of the sentence turns up, and Leilani preps herself as if about to run while Caleb’s back is towards her, right arm set like a circle away from his torso and left arm in front of himself palm-up as if carrying a football. The last ‘You can say you had it all’ starts, and Leilani takes off in a jog before kicking her legs up into the air while being backflipped in Caleb’s arms! The audience gawks as Leilani’s abdomen eventually lands onto Caleb’s right shoulder, then she carefully snakes her body down his back so that she ends up wrapping her legs around his back & abdomen. Now, during Tinashe’s part of ‘Aw babe’ which is dragged out a bit, Leilani throws her arms above her head and leans back with the most amazing core control before eventually touching the floor with her hands to neck to shoulder blades; the touching of the blades signals her to release the grip of her legs around Caleb’s waist to then give the exclamation point of spreading them out sharply in the air just as Caleb lands his hands in a back-handspring over Leilani by the end of the next line! Once Caleb lands all of his hands and feet on the floor, both him & Leilani right themselves so they’re both on their shins only to end the line after the last sharply with a jazz layout: flicking their necks & bodies backwards while catching the floor behind their arched backs with extended arms.

The audience couldn’t contain themselves any longer as they explode in cheers at the spectacles they’ve been given by Leilani and Caleb so far, even though the song isn’t even over. The song continues with the last hook before ending with an extended outro that had a distorted voice; the cheers come once again, not to be interrupted again by silence or Clare & Claire. After a few seconds once the silence came again, Clare declares a five minute break in order to allow those participating in the next section of Tap to get their shoes on; Leilani nor Caleb are participating in this one, so they hop off of the stage and immediately embrace.

Alba, Peter, and Jamey all come running from their seats and through the walkway; Alba is the first to reach Leilani, jumping in with arms wide open so impactful that it’s pure luck that Caleb was slightly behind Leilani or else she would have fallen. Alba exclaims while in the embrace, “Damn, girl! You can move!” Both release the hug and shriek & laugh in excitement at each other’s faces.

Once she composes herself, Leilani proceeds to hug Peter & Jamey, who’re equally as excited for her as Alba. Then, she moves into proper introductions: looking first at Caleb, she starts, “Caleb, this is my roommate & friend, Alba,” then points to Alba in order for them to acquaint themselves with a handshake. Next, “Then, here are Peter and Jamey,” pointing to them next and both brothers bring up their right hands for a handshake.

Caleb reciprocates their shakes, yet at the same time does the thing he did with his face where he wiggled his eyebrows and bit his lip at them; however, neither twin was entertaining the idea by reacting in any way, so Caleb sighs, “You boys are no fun.”

Leilani interrupts any further conversation, especially after that remark, by stating, “And now, everyone, this is Caleb, junior, and Dance major.”

Leilani and Caleb run back up to the stage in order to get their waters from their bags before returning to where the rest are sitting. The break is still going on, so they continue in small talk before being interrupted by Clare or Claire yelling for the Tap section to start; the five sit altogether in one row, watching silently.

The Tap section was surprisingly but also understandably long: there was no given music to be played because Clare & Claire wanted to really see & hear each technique; Tap is a naturally percussive genre where the dancer made their own music anyways, so this method might be for the best. Therefore, people on stage were set up in a line and, one by one, allotted a certain amount of time to show what they can do. There weren’t as many people in this section compared to Hip Hop, but the area other than the stage itself was silent both because Clare & Claire were very strict about silence and the dancers were just naturally amazing that people were awestruck in silence by every move made & sound produced.

Eventually, all of the Tap dancers perform and exit the stage; then, the main girls called for another five minute break before the next section, Contemporary. While the five of them resumed their talking from before, Leilani is taking off her shoes & socks. Noticing how Caleb is not doing the same, she inquires, “Caleb, you’re not into Contemporary? Judging from the smoothness of that earlier lift and your high flexibility, I thought you would be.”

Caleb responds after a small chuckle, “Well, sista, looks can be deceiving. Besides, I’m more into Hip Hop with a little acro and Ballroom. Clare & Claire already know that, but they don’t put Ballroom in this showcase thingy cause the newcomers aren’t always coming prepped for partner work.”

Leilani accepts this answer, “Well then, wish me luck, guys!” She bolts for the stage once again in order to stretch again. A minute passes, and Leilani notices how there definitely isn’t as many people on the stage for Contemporary as there was for Hip Hop; additionally, she also notices more females on the stage, so she has to stand out even further from the pack. However, she isn’t discouraged at all, but rather she sees this as another reason to push herself.

The break is up and people are set up in the theater seats as they wait anxiously; after a signal from Claire that they were to start, Clare takes charge of her phone once again and presses on it. The song that comes up makes Leilani perk up just recognizing it, but she immediately drops such an expression in favor of one of seriousness if not sadness.

“Lovely” by Billie Eilish and Khalid.

Once the violin kicks in with the piano intro, and Leilani is slowly plie-ing with her knees while her arms are vibrating as if she’s losing control of them. Eventually, the first verse hits with Billie thinking that she thought she found a way out, and Leilani has her left hand covering her eyes; immediately with the piano beats that come afterwards, she’s hitting all of them in their fast pace, yet she’s not making her body so hard-hitting or rough but rather smooth to match the piano’s softer tone. The song continues, and she takes it up a notch with the chorus by being bigger with her body movements and even adding in hair to either hide her face or to over-dramatize her neck whipping to-&-fro. Throughout this dance, Leilani’s face wasn’t overly sad despite the somber tone of the music, but rather just calm in order to accentuate the movements & the song itself has more of a hopefulness to it than sadness. She lasts through the whole song once again, and she ends her dance with multiple clockwise turns with a perfectly-turned right foot transitioned strongly yet lightly to the ground sitting in a fetal position as Billie & Khalid finally project ‘Hello, welcome home.’

Audience reaction is silenced by Clare and Claire, who state that they will resume in a minute; some people in the audience return to the stage while those who stayed for the whole song went back to warming themselves up. Leilani stands up from her sitting position and proceeds to warm up herself, but she is suddenly distracted by her four friends who’re practically blinding her with their big smiles & thumbs-up; she beams her own smile and wave before loosening her neck and resuming the rest of her warm-up.

Once the minute passes, the last Contemporary song is played: “The Worst” by Jhene Aiko. The introduction is simply piano and snares, but Leilani immediately takes on a sadder look on her face than from Lovely as she’s hitting every snare she can hard yet also calmer than Hip Hop hitting. Jhene eventually starts singing, asking for the subject of the song to repeat what he just said, so Leilani continues her hitting trend but now has one of her hands constantly covering her mouth for every line that Jhene is referring to speaking. The song continues and Leilani produces a perfectly-timed sequence of leaps, kicks, turns, fast movements, slow movements, even moments when she wasn’t moving at all other than her facials, and hairography moving seamlessly with the rest of her body especially during the more erratic parts.

All throughout, Alba wasn’t focusing on her friend’s big motions or technicalities since she wasn’t used to see so much of either; rather, Alba couldn’t help but stare at Leilani’s face: the mouth was quivering at the right moments and it was noticeable; her hair flowed with the rest of the body as if it was dirty yet cascading water; and her eyes had this impossible technique of being both filled with this fire and glistening with vulnerability since Leilani was on the brink of tears. Further listening to the song and watching Leilani’s movements, Alba runs through her mind as she finally understands, _Oh my gosh. Is this about Carter or her parents?_

Leilani is pouring her whole heart and soul into this performance, and the whole audience is enamored by her performance, being pulled in by her emoting and understanding what emotions she was portraying on some level. The end of the song approaches, and Leilani covers her eyes with her right hand; as Jhene repeatedly whispers “I don’t need you,” Leilani is mouthing those words as if you don’t even need to see her eyes to know that she’s crying. Jhene then transitions to repeating “I don’t mean to,” so Leilani transfers both of her hands to her ears and mouthing the words erratically like she’s naively talking to herself with full desperation; “But I want to” followed by a light crescendo of piano occupies the final few seconds of the song, so Leilani caps this performance off by combing her fingers through her hair from pulling in the roots area to falling towards the ends at the crescendo.

Utter silence, then the whole audience including Clare & Claire erupt in cheers, cries, and claps. Alba, however, runs from her seat and up the small staircase in order to rush Leilani with a strong and vulnerable hug; as she’s rocking back & forth with Alba, Leilani buries her face in her friend’s shoulder without letting out any noises yet the trembling of her chest indicates what she’s trying to hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter is short.


	6. The Proposal

“Leilani! Caleb! Wait up!” A somewhat familiar voice calls out for Leilani, so she turns around to find the voice to belong to Claire.

Once Claire finally stops her run just a foot in front of her, Leilani greets, “Hi, Claire. Are you okay?”

Claire answers, “Oh yeah, everything’s fine. Do you mind if I speak to the two of you in private?”

Leilani’s eyes bulge in surprise, and her attention is quickly drawn to Jamey when he whispers next to her ear, “We’ll see you back at your dorm.” Before she could respond, Jamey leaves her side and walks away alongside his twin and Alba.

Leilani and Caleb’s attention is back on Claire, so Claire starts, “Okay, so Caleb is already a given since we’ve been dancing with each other here for a few years now, but Clare and I were wondering if we could convince you to perform in this winter’s Student Showcase?”

“Oh my gosh, yes! I would love to!” Leilani exclaims as she tosses her hair to her back so to expose her face. Leilani then hesitates, “But wait, how exactly will that work out with my schedule?”

Claire answers, “Well, as a higher-up in the program, I have access to some information; and I found out that you were signed up for some dance classes anyways cause of your Dance minor. So, you’ll stick with whatever classes you have, then there are Free Lab hours in the dance rooms found in the building next to the theater here that you can use to practice. Oh! Also, you can be in a single piece or multiple, they can be just you or many people, and you can make your own pieces to show and/or be in other people’s pieces; seeing how amazing you were today only on the first day I feel like you’ll be a hot commodity, but it is enforced that no one can force you into any pieces you don’t want to be in.”

Leilani blushes before replying, “Thank you for your vote of confidence, Claire. I definitely want to try, but first I need to think about schedules and everything. Parents want me to focus on education first, ya know?”

Claire laughs, “No worries, girl! Anyways, you can get my phone number or Insta from Caleb, but right now I need to run so I’ll see you two later.” She waves and turns around to go back into the theater building, but she just as quickly turns back around to face Leilani & Caleb, “And one more thing: if you are to choreograph a piece, you’re allowed to bring anyone in just as long as you trust them and they're respectful to school property. Okay, see y'all later,” she says this with a nervous smile as if it came from experience, and Leilani has her suspicions answered when Caleb nodded in confirmation.

When they turn around to walk away from the theater again, Caleb pushes, “Do you really need to think that hard about it? By the face you gave at the news, you pretty much beamed brighter than the sun itself.”

Leilani sighes, “Oh, I’m definitely doing the show, but I just need to gauge myself with practice times and thinking of choreo among my schoolwork. Still, I’m already having ideas!” she said as she’s excitedly skipping alongside Caleb. To be fair, Leilani tries to bring Caleb into the conversation, “Why aren’t you as excited as me?!”

Caleb answers with a big smile as if to reassure her, “I am excited, but I’m used to the process and all. And since it’s a student show, we’re in charge of doing most of the communication to Production about lights and props and all, not the faculty. This ain’t your high school show no more, Lei.” 

Leilani replies, “Hey, I understand that completely. It’s going to be novel and complicated and all, but just imagining the people watching and what the dancers are going to bring just gives me chills & everything.”

Caleb chuckles; Leilani’s joy is so infectious. Then, Caleb brings up, “So, are you thinking about what Claire said about your options?”

After a few moments of reflection, Leilani hums then answers, “Well, seeing how well we worked together today, I definitely want you in a Hip Hop piece. I’m debating if I want to do a Hula piece; I’ve done it so much in Hawaii and I want to try to branch out a bit maybe, and there’s the fact that most Hula pieces look the best when in a group but I don’t know enough other people here to ask if they would join me.”

Caleb reminds her, “Hey, remember that you can bring anyone, at this school or not and dancer or non.”

Leilani sighs, “Yeah, but I don’t know if I want to bring people from Hawaii since they're an ocean away and doing their own things as well. I don’t want to pressure them by doing their own schoolwork and learning choreo especially last minute.”

Caleb makes an interesting face as he nudges at her arm, “Hey, what about those twin glasses of water of yours? They seem fit and sporty, and definitely their looks would be an eye-catcher for people in the audience.” Caleb then shimmies his shoulder, makes his eyebrows dance, and bites his lower lip as he’s insinuating such a proposal.

Leilani scoffs in light-hearted disgust, but actually starts thinking about the idea, “Huh. I was thinking of doing a Contemporary piece and they could do some lifts maybe.” But then she shakes her head at a realization and presents it, “They most probably wouldn’t be up for it though. They have their own classes and sports; they’ll need any time they could get to practice on their own stuff rather than on dancing.”

Caleb scoffs and slouches his shoulders to exaggerate the frustration, “Girl, why do you assume everyone wouldn’t be down for something that you want to do? You’ll know if you actually ask.”

Leilani gives in, “Fine, I will mention it to them. Still, don’t get your hopes up ‘cause they’ll most probably won’t be down.”

***

“Are you kidding?! We would be so down!”

Both Kavinskys answer as all five of them stand back inside of Leilani and Alba’s dorm room. Peter and Jamey are beaming with smiles, Leilani’s mouth is agape in shock, Alba’s forehead creases in confusion at the yelling, and Caleb is taken out of the situation by the beauty of the dorm room.

“Wait, really?” Leilani questions.

“Uh, yeah!” Peter and Jamey respond with that twin thing they do.

“I think I’ve lost most of my hearing in my right ear, thank you very much.” Alba interrupts.

“You girls have a nice room. My roommates are nice & all but not as artistically inclined as this.” Caleb inputs randomly.

Ignoring the last two remarks, Leilani says, “What about school work? And your individual sports? We wouldn’t be able to practice if we’re separated a lot.”

Peter scoffs confidently, “Please. I’ve got everything completely handled; I don’t know about this guy over here, though..”

An eyebrow raises as Jamey comments, “You were asking me to do your English homework for you last night since ‘your arms were dead’. You call that handled?”

Caleb tries to hide a giggle behind his hand while Alba exclaims, “Exposed!”

Peter crinkles his nose at Alba while he hisses, “For your information, Lara Jean has helped me a lot with my procrastination and actually doing my work so screw you Alba.” He then turns his attention back to Leilani, “I’m so down. Yeah, I was tired last night, but I can quickly get a  handle on my lacrosse schedule and send it to you so you know when I could practice. Besides, my classes basically start & end at the same times as you and I’d just need to work on homework.”

Peter had an almost golden speck in his eye, which must’ve meant confidence or drive on his face; Leilani gives in, “Alright, Peter. Very convincing, but you have to tell me immediately when you can’t handle it, okay?”

Peter responds, “Gotchu.”

Leilani turns to Jamey and inquires, “So, what about you, Jamey?”

It was obvious that Jamey was much thoughtful in his decision simply in the hesitancy of his answer and the pursed lips he was making during the whole conversation between Leilani & Peter. After another few moments full of silent anticipation, Jamey says, “I also have a similar schedule to you time-wise with my classes, so that’s fine; Pete and I share the big field for practice but not at same times, so we’ll have to figure out meeting times when we can all meet together and times when it’s not all of us. Otherwise, I’m game for it.”

Leilani shrieks in excitement, “Okay!” She then jumps up, hugging both. The boys reciprocate the hug, and the three of them stay there for a few seconds. 

They break off, and Leilani goes right back into discussion, “Okay, this is great. I’m already thinking of ideas but I’ll write them down some and send them to you soon. I need you to send me those schedules ASAP, and I need to know how much you two can lift because I was mainly thinking of Contemporary pieces since your parts don’t have to be so intricate in choreography to look good.”

Alba jumps in, “Oh my gosh! What if I can make costumes for you?”

Leilani responds ecstatically, “I would love that, Alba. Can she do that, Caleb?”

Caleb quickly replies, “Well, the Fashion program has to make costumes for other programs, dance included, so she’s kinda already a part of the process. Still, she can request being an exclusive designer for specific people.” This answer brings Leilani and Alba jumping up & down in glee as their hands are linked like elementary school girls.

Alba inserts, “Cool; let it be known to all that I will be the officially exclusive designer for Leilani, Peter, Jamey, and Caleb.”

Caleb is taken aback by surprise at the last name, “Wait, really? We just met.”

Alba scoffs, “Oh, believe me, Leilani & I instantly connected the first day, and I don’t doubt that you have the same energetic vibe that I like. Besides, why not; this would bring us all closer as friends, wouldn’t it?” Alba has been subtly yet still increasing inching towards Caleb, and her words had an authentic tone to them so it was obvious that she was serious.

Caleb notices her advancement & rather forward statement, but he answers her interestingly with a warm smile and a calm within his eyes; this makes the other three hum in curiosity [aka Peter] or confusion [aka Leilani and Jamey] because they assumed of Caleb early due to his flirtatious tendencies to the Kavinskys yet never expected this as well. The only verbal response he gives to Alba is, “Thanks,” but it was the way he breathed out and never broke eye contact with her was what made their connection telling.

Leilani surprises Alba & Caleb by pulling the five of them into a group hug. Once they collide into each other, Leilani giggles, “This is going to be so much fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was posted on and the work was on pause as of June 11, 2019.


	7. Final Chapter: Family Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. So, to anyone who had high hopes or waiting anxiously for this work to continue: I'm genuinely sorry to disappoint you. It has been so long since this work had started and I was so excited about it at the start, but I quickly fell into a writer's block for many of my WIPs then and on, and I ultimately prioritized school, home, and other works including my Original work up to this day. Additionally, I had the block for this work once I got to Chapter 6 since I was planning twin angst leading up to the Student Showcase, but I didn't know how to write that and everything's history; also, within that block I eventually jumped to this chapter that acted as the final chapter to this season of sorts because it was something I thought of first before all of the middle parts. Therefore, to finish things off, here is that season finale; hope y'all enjoy.

It’s been a week since Student Showcase weekend, and it’s a sunny Saturday despite the chilly winter day; it’s the perfect weather for such a special occasion: Family Day. Family Day usually happened at the end of the “semester”, even though UCLA is under a quarter system, which meant that it only occured after the finals before the Christmas & Summer breaks. The gymnasium was buzzing with people moving about and greeting each other before Clare steps up to the microphone, “Hello everybody. Please take your seats so we can get started.” This calms most of the gym atmosphere down, people shuffling throughout the area to get to their seats. 

Among this chaos, the Kavinskys are at one table while the Evans are positioned at the table right next to them. Mr. and Mrs. Kavinsky are separated by the twins, but it was to be expected because it’s not like one weekend of seeing their sons function in an environment they’re not used to seeing would magically bring them together emotionally; other than that, the table included the younger brothers as well as Peter’s girlfriend Lara Jean Song Covey & Jamey’s girlfriend Sierra Burgess. At the Evans table, it was Leilani, Kekoa, Ben & Noriko, Yuri & Ren, and Caleb & Alba. Both tables had two empty chairs: neither Caleb or Alba’s parents ultimately could make it today although one parent from each of them did say that they were coming a few days before; as for the Kavinsky table, Mrs. Kavinsky mentioned something about waiting on someone or a couple of people.

While Clare continues with her introductions, Leilani leans over to Alba’s side and whispers, “Hey, I’m sorry that your guys’ families couldn’t make it today.”

Alba softly smiles as she responds, “It’s okay, Lei. I’m just thankful for you letting us sit with your family today.” She then turns her attention around to Caleb, who grabs at her hand to squeeze it.

Caleb adds, “Yeah, thank you Leilani, and thank you to all of you for letting us be here with you.”

Noriko waves off gesture, “It’s not a problem, sweetheart; those spaces would have been taken by another random family, but I’m glad it was taken by friends of Leilani.”

Ben raises his glass of water and points the lip part towards Caleb & Alba, “I second that.”

Yuri and Ren, curious at the movement, pick up their own glasses of water and tip them towards the two cheerfully; they get over-excited with it though, because they would have spilled their whole waters if it weren’t for a quick Kekoa grabbing at their glasses and laughing.

Before any more conversation continues between them, Clare exclaims, “Okay everyone. Welcome to Family Day, and I hope you all enjoy both each other and this brunch!” She then proceeds to read off a card that lists off the tables designated to move to the buffet lines. There were four set-ups of food placed within the gym, but the process of one table per set-up at a time was still very slow with the hundreds of families present. Still, the wait-time was worth it: five different types of egg-preparations (scrambled, hard-boiled, over-medium, sunny-side-up, and deviled), bacon, sausages, hash browns, tater-tots, pancakes, waffles, French toast, more water, coffee, orange juice, an assortment of fruits, and more. Owen and Ty were basically drooling at the sight, Kekoa filled his two plates completely, Yuri and Ren stuck with pancakes, the parents stuck with fruits and whatever protein they individually chose, Peter and Jamey quickly went for seconds & thirds, Alba and Caleb filled their plates but were slow in eating, and Leilani made sure everyone in their tables had their needed napkins & utensils & food before she got her own plate of mainly waffles and sausages.

***

Time passes rather quickly as everyone is enthralled by the time they’re spending with their families. It’s been a couple of hours, and everyone is pretty much doing their own thing: Yuri, Ren, Owen, & Ty are playing on their phones next to each other; Ben is discussing some business with Mr. Kavinsky; Noriko is trying to get to-go boxes for food; Mrs. Kavinsky is on the phone with someone, asking the person on the other line where they are; Alba is sitting on Caleb’s lap and they’re contently looking at everyone else; Peter, Jamey, and Kekoa are wrestling with each other while surprisingly not hitting any surrounding families; and Leilani, Lara Jean, and Sierra are discussing Peter & Jamey.

Mrs. Kavinsky finally gets off the phone and yells over the many conversations, “Boys, your father and I need to discuss something.” Mr. Kavinsky, Peter, Jamey, Owen, and Ty [directed by Jamey] all turn their attention to her. Meanwhile, the Evans family break off onto their own things, Lara Jean & Sierra sit with Caleb & Alba to keep themselves busy, and Leilani detects a slight nervousness in Mrs. Kavinsky’s tone so she tries to eavesdrop on the conversation while sitting with Kekoa at their table.

The boys pick up on Mrs. Kavinsky’s tone and Leilani’s response to it, so Peter asks, “Is everything okay, Mom?”

Before she can answer, a voice coming from behind her catches her attention, “Julia?”

She beams at the appearance of this new man, “Charlie!” She proceeds to hug the man and directs him to Mr. Kavinsky, who goes in for a friendly handshake with the man.

Peter asks, “Mom, who is this?”

Mr. Kavinsky answers, “Boys, this is one of my best friends, Charlie Rattigan.”

Mr. Rattigan brings his arm out for a handshake, “Hello, boys. How are you doing?” All of them have confused looks on their faces, but Peter is the one to start shaking this man’s hand before the rest follow. Mr. Rattigan tries to reassure them, “Don’t worry; I’m just a friend. We met in high school and stayed friends since then, even though I’ve been in Connecticut while she’s been in Virginia for the longest time.”

Jamey sneaks a smile to make sure Mr. Rattigan know that he was listening, but he quickly turns his attention to his mother, “Mom, you were about to say something?”

Mom’s smile fades slowly as she replies, “Yes. Please, everyone sit down.” Everyone sits at their table, then Mrs. Kavinsky rambles, “Well, there’s no easy way to explain this, so I’m just going to say it, because it’s Family Day, right? Huh, anyways: Peter & Jamey, giving birth to you two was one of the best days of my life, our lives counting your father; however, that day, you two weren’t the only babies to be born.”

Owen interrupts, “Of course, Mom; multiple babies are born everyday.”

Mrs. Kavinsky jumps back in, “I know, honey, but this day was special because … your father and I were given a third son then.” This causes all four of the children to straighten their spines in utter confusion [including Ty since Mr. Kavinsky is translating for him].

Mr. Rattigan pitches in, “I was there the night you two were born, but there was a third child born as well. And as much as they wanted to keep him, your mother was exhausted to the point where she predicted not going back to work as quickly as she wanted and you know that you’re not the most prosperous of families even before the divorce.”

Jamey hisses, “So, what is this leading to exactly?”

Mr. Rattigan responds, “Well, all three of you were in good health thankfully, but Julia thought that she couldn’t sustain five people in a household at that moment in time, so your parents gave the third child to me to take care of; and I have been taking care of him alongside my wife all these years.” All of the children’s eyes widen, and it just continues: “We shortly moved to Connecticut and I was a successful writer, but things toppled and she divorced me.”

Peter comes in, “So, why are you telling us this now?”

Mr. Kavinsky intervenes, “Well, your mother and I were inspired by how you two got along so well even after all the time; and you’re young adults now, so you all deserve the truth.”

Mrs. Kavinsky adds on, “And we were thinking of bringing your brother to transfer here to UCLA.”

Peter and Jamey stand from their seats and exclaim, “What?!” alerting everyone at the Evans table.

Mr. Rattigan says, “He was doing good this past semester at UCONN, but he said that he needed something new in his life; so, he was the one to bring up transfer.”

Jamey counters, “But it was you three that discussed behind his back before pushing UCLA into the picture?”

Mr. and Mrs. Kavinsky slouch in shame while Mr. Rattigan remarks, “Smart kids.” His attempt to lighten the mood fails as Owen gives him a disapproving shake of his head as if saying, ‘Not helping.’

Peter sits back down and continues the conversation, “Does he know about you two? That you’re his real parents?”

Mr. Kavinsky answers, “Since the first week of December.”

Jamey asks as he sits, “How’d he respond?”

Mrs. Kavinsky responds, “As natural as that situation entails. But he eventually came around and accepted us as his biological parents although he still understandably calls Charlie ‘Dad’.”

Peter asks, “Does he know about us?”

Mr. Kavinsky replies, “Not yet.”

Peter & Jamey instinctively say at the same time, “What’s his name?”

Before anyone can answer, they hear a door open near their table and a familiar-sounding voice starts exclaiming, “Dad, this place is amazing! And I thought Yale was good-looking.” The source of the voice’s back is turned to them as he’s walking backwards while revelling at the outside, “I mean, the weather is so nice and the place is huge. Hey, did you ever find Mr. and Mrs. Ka-- I mean Mom and Dad?”

Peter and Jamey are both standing from the table now as the source finally turns towards the family; all three males are frozen in their tracks, only their hearts and minds racing, and they’re taking in the sight of them having almost the exact likeness. Leilani notices this tension and sees for herself the new figure that looks pretty much the same in face & build to her friends; on instinct, she walks to Peter & Jamey’s sides.

The silent staring continues for what feels like a eternity, until Mr. Rattigan finally answers the prior question, “Everyone, this is Brooks Rattigan, or rather Brooks Kavinsky. Brooks, meet your … triplet brothers, Peter and Jamey.”

‘Triplet’ seemed to be the trigger word, for all three of them produce a labored gasp before silence re-enters the situation. Then, and only then, did the following words come from Peter’s, Jamey’s, Brooks’s, and even Leilani’s mouths:

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo, a twist! Yeah, hopefully I think of actual plot ideas for this work in a possible second season because I feel like this concept of having all of Noah Centineo's Netflix movie characters [that I like; let's never mention Swiped ever other than this moment, please] all related to each other is so wild and contains so much potential. Hope you guys enjoyed this!
> 
> This chapter was done on January 13, 2020.


End file.
